This Time Around
by TBorah89
Summary: A reimagining of Maddie's paternity reveal and the events that followed. This is a Deyna story all the way and there will be some angsty parts and some fluff as well. It's much better than the summary.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Nashville I'm only borrowing the characters.

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Chapter 1

 _Deacon moved about the cabin destroying everything in his path in a fit of rage. He picked up a glass and smashed it against the wall before picking up the half empty bottle of Jack and taking a long swallow. He moved on to the kitchen chair and hurled it across the room. Not satisfied that that had done enough damage he flipped the table over. It wasn't like he had any reason to give a damn anymore. His drinking had already cost him the woman he loved he might as well let it take everything else in his life that mattered too._

 _Unbeknownst to him Rayna stood right outside the door watching him lay waste to their dream home. She knew that he would take their breakup badly she just didn't think he'd let it get this out of control._

" _Babe, maybe now isn't the time to try to talk to him. Honestly you'd just be better off if you took Teddy up on his offer and never let Deacon know. It's not like he's in any shape to take care of himself much less anyone else at the moment." Tandy put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder._

 _Rayna shrugged away from her sister's touch. "No, Tandy, I have to tell him. If nothing else he deserves to know the truth. I'm not saying that I want him involved or that I can go through that brand of pain with him again, but maybe this will be the thing that finally saves his life. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I lied to him. I'm going in there. You can stay out here and stand guard if it makes you feel any better, but I'm telling him the truth."_

" _Do what you want. We both know that you lose all your good sense when it comes to him anyway. I'll be right outside this door and the first move he makes that I don't like I call the police." Tandy crossed her arms over her chest._

 _Rayna walked into the cabin not that Deacon noticed at first he was too blinded by rage, grief, and most of a fifth of whiskey to know anything._

" _Deacon," She called out softly to get his attention. "Deacon!" She called his name louder this time._

 _He turned o look at her with fury blazing in his eyes. "What the hell are you doin' here, Rayna? Shouldn't you be off fuckin' Conrad?" He took another gulp of whiskey._

 _She stalked over and snatched the bottle out of his hand before smashing it in the sink. "I'm not in the mood for your bullshit right now. You're gonna sit down, shut up, and listen to what the hell I have to say for once in your life."_

 _He scowled at her, but he sat down on the couch anyway. It was the only surface still fit to sit on. "Well, go on."_

" _Seein' you this way kills me, babe. I want you to get better, no I need you to get better. You may not remember it right now, but you put a ring on my finger and you promised me forever. Despite my better judgement and against everyone's advice I still want that with you." She showed him the ring he'd slipped on her finger in the midst of one of his drunken blackouts._

" _Oh, thank you, baby, thank you so much." He slurred and he stood to take her in his arms._

 _She put both her hands on his chest and pushed him away from her. "The only way that can happen is if you get sober and stay sober. I'm done with this merry go round of pain and heartache with you. This time when you go to rehab it has to stick or there is nothing left for us. It's more important than ever that you commit to your sobriety now and not just for the sake of our relationship or keeping a spot in my band."_

" _What are you talkin' 'bout?" The confusion was written all over his face._

 _Rayna pulled a black and white picture out of her purse and thrust it into his hand. "This is what I'm talking about."_

 _Deacon studied the picture in his hand unable to make out much more than a blurry figure. It could have been the effects of the whiskey on his brain, but he couldn't quite grasp what he was looking at. "What's this?"_

" _That's an ultrasound picture, Deacon. I'm pregnant, we're gonna have a baby." Her bottom lip quivered. She didn't know how he was going to take this news. Would he be happy? Would he be mad? Or was he drunk enough that he just wouldn't give a damn either way?_

" _How? How is that even possible?" He asked._

" _The fact that you can't remember is exactly how it's possible." She told him bluntly._

 _It took a minute for it to sink in, but finally a huge grin spread across his face. "I'm gonna be a daddy." This time when he went to pull her into his arms she let him. He kissed both her cheeks her forehead and finally her lips tenderly. He dropped down to his knees and kissed her still flat stomach. "Daddy, loves you so much and I promise I'm gonna be so much better to you and for you than my old man was with me."_

 _She didn't say a word tears just rolled down her cheeks as she threaded her fingers through his hair and listened to him talk to their unborn child. There was no doubt in her mind that they had created the tiny life that was now growing inside of her. Teddy had always been extremely careful to make sure that didn't happen. Her and Deacon on the other hand were more like a hurricane of unbridled passion and contraceptives fell by the wayside when they got in the mood._

 _Honestly, it was a miracle that he hadn't gotten her pregnant before now. They'd had quite a few scares over the years, but this one was the one that turned out to be the real deal. Thinking about it there was no way she could marry Teddy he was a good man, but the passion just wasn't there. She'd never have that with any man, but Deacon._

 _Deacon got back to his feet his eyes surprisingly clear for how drunk he was and he looked her right in the face. "Ray, I need help and I need to go now while I'm still drunk and won't fight you on it. I have to be here for you and for our baby I can't do that the way I am now."_

 _Even he knew that it was better for him to go to treatment now like this than it was for him to wait until he sobered up and had a nasty hang over that would make his horrible temper even worse. The last thing he wanted to do right now was upset Rayna or put stress on her that she didn't need. He had to get it right this time for her and for their baby. That was the only thing that mattered to him. Sure he wanted to get sober for himself so he could prove to the world that he was a better husband and daddy than his father could ever dream of being._

" _I already called the treatment center on the way up here I'll take you now." Rayna agreed._

 _Getting Deacon to go into rehab while he was drunk was a much easier task than it had been trying to do it while he was coming down from the booze. There was no fighting, no cussing, and no crying. He let Rayna and Tandy lead him into the center without incident. The tears only came when it was time for him and Rayna to say goodbye._

" _Ray,"_

" _Rayna, come on, baby, please open your eyes. I don't care how mad I am right now I still love you and need you to wake up."_ _She could hear a voice on the edge of her mind it was fuzzy, but it sounded like Deacon._

 _Try as she might she couldn't open her eyes and find the man that made her heart beat faster and slower at the same time. It was like something was holding her back._

Deacon sat at Rayna's bedside giving off a haggard gaunt appearance. He looked worse than she did and he wasn't the one in a coma. He clung to her hand like a drowning man clung to a life preserver. That was the hand that wasn't in a cast anyway. The beard on his face said that he hadn't shaved in at least a week if not longer. He couldn't remember the last time that he'd eaten anything. The only reason that he'd had anything to drink was because Scarlett and the nurses forced him to. He would hang out in the waiting room all day just in case she woke up and at night he would sneak into her room to sit with her.

Seeing her like that damn near killed him. She was in a medically induced coma so there were tubes and wires coming out all over her body. There was a tube down her throat to help her breathe and there was no telling wheat kind of damage it was doing to her vocal chords. The thought of never hearing her sweet voice again was enough to bring him to tears. Music and her were the same thing to him. He couldn't live without either in his life.

He couldn't help feeling partially responsible for her being here now. That was probably just his disease talking though. If he could find a way to blame himself for something he would even if there was no possible way that it was his fault. He was pretty sure that he could get away with blaming this one on himself even though it wasn't any of his recent actions that had caused it it had been his actions thirteen years ago.

* * *

One Week Earlier

"Where have you been?" Rayna turned from her vanity to look at Deacon when he finally walked into her dressing room. He was supposed to have been her date for the night, but that hadn't turned out so great.

"I got waylaid." Deacon's eyes were dark with anger and sadness.

Before either of them had further chance to explore what he'd meant it was time for them to go out on stage. Deacon had been professional as always, but he all but refused to look at her the whole time they were on stage.

"Do you wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" Rayna asked him once they were back in the dressing room.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that you ain't been lyin' to me for thirteen years. Tell me that Maddie isn't my little girl." Deacon demanded of her.

"How?" Was all she said. She didn't bother denying it. Hell it escaped her most days how everyone she knew hadn't figured out that Maddie belonged to Deacon she looked and acted just like him.

"Maddie, came to see me she was pretty upset. Apparently she found a DNA test in the back of your closest that said Teddy wasn't her father. She thought it might be me since we were together around that time. You all but confirmed that just now. How is it even possible?" He asked.

"The fact that you don't remember at all is how it's possible, Deacon." She told him.

"How could you? How could you do it, Ray? You strung me along for thirteen years knowin' that you gave birth to my baby. You let me be there as Uncle Deacon, but I wasn't good enough to be her daddy. If nothin' else we both deserved better than findin' out this way." He fumed. He didn't wait for an explanation he just turned on his heel to go.

"Deacon, wait, please. Just give me the chance to explain." She begged him.

"I can't right now, Rayna. I can't even look at you without wantin' to be sick." He stormed out the door before he gave into her like he always did.

Without meaning for it to happen he found himself in a bar. A shot glass of whiskey sat in front of him and he could see Rayna's smiling face on the TV over the bar.

'Turn that off would ya?" He requested. If he was gonna fall off the wagon he sure as hell wasn't gonna do it with her staring at him in disappointment for once again letting her down and not being the man that she deserved.

The bartender flipped the channel to some college sports' game. "Not a fan of country music?"

"Not tonight," Deacon replied. With a shaky hand he reached for the shot glass. Even without Rayna's face staring at him in judgement he couldn't bring himself to pick it up. Another more innocent face popped into his head as he reached for it. His little girl standing on his front porch crying her eyes out because she didn't know who she was anymore.

He pushed the drink away and pushed his stool back from the bar as the stark reality hit him. He hadn't had a drink in his baby girl's lifetime and he'd be damned if he let it happen now. No matter how he felt she had to come first. He didn't want his first official act as her father to be getting dog ass drunk. And Rayna damn her all to hell he was gonna prove to her that she'd made the biggest mistake of her life when she hadn't given him the chance to be a daddy. He'd prove her wrong right here and now.

He threw a ten-dollar bill down on the bar. Without bothering to ask for change.

"Somewhere else you rather be?" The bartender asked.

"No, somewhere else I need to be." Deacon replied. He drove himself straight to an AA meeting. He didn't get up and speak because he wasn't ready for that yet, but just being there soothed his soul and helped him push back his demons.

Coleman was sitting on his front stoop when he finally returned home.

"I might've known that you'd be here. Let me guess she called you?" Deacon sat down beside him.

"She's worried about you. She was afraid that you were going to throw away thirteen years of sobriety over this." Coleman replied.

"Did you know, Cole?" Deacon asked him.

"No, I didn't know. I always strongly suspected, but I didn't know for a fact. I can't help but feel like this is partially my fault I told that if you had any shot of making your sobriety stick she had to let you go." Coleman admitted.

"Ain't your fault. It's not like anyone held a gun to her head and forced her not to tell me." Deacon shrugged.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Coleman asked him.

"Truthfully I don't know. I don't know the first thing 'bout bein' anyone's father. I didn't have much of a role model to show me how to be one. I know one thing I'll never lay a hand on her and I will never hurt her the way that he hurt me. Beyond that I don't know." Deacon was scared and confused as he'd ever been in his life.

"Do you want to go to a meeting?" Coleman asked him.

"Nah, I just came from one. That was after I sat and stared at a double Jack for an hour, but all I could see was my little girl's face and I didn't wanna let her down like I let Rayna down for years." Deacon assured him. "And I'm just pissed off enough right now to want to prove to Rayna that she was wrong to give up on me."

"Do you need anything? Do you need me to take you anywhere?" Coleman needed to know that he was truly ok before he left him alone.

"I'm fine, Cole, there's actually some place that I do need to be, so I promise I will call you if I feel like I'm slippin'." Deacon promised him.

"Deacon, I was wrong about you. I thought that you and Rayna would destroy each other again, but that didn't happen. I'm proud of you." Coleman offered him some words of praise.

Deacon knocked on Rayna's front door. As much as he didn't want to see her at the moment there was someone else who needed him more. "Can I come in?"

"Of course I didn't expect to see you here or sober quite honestly. As much as I would love to talk about this I can't right now Teddy is here and we are gonna talk to Maddie." Rayna replied.

Deacon muscled his way past Rayna. "That's why I'm here about Maddie not to see you I'm still not ready for that yet. I deserve to be here for this conversation I've missed out on enough important stuff."

"What's he doing here?" Teddy demanded. He'd just known that Deacon and Rayna messing around with each other again was going to end in disaster.

"Teddy, now is not the time." Rayna warned him through gritted teeth. "Maddie, sweetie, can you come down here please?" She called her daughter into the living room.

Maddie appeared seconds later with a scowl on her face. "What?" She crossed her arms over her chest and set her jaw in a hard line.

If she wasn't so damn frustrated Rayna would have thought, it was adorable how much she looked like Deacon in that moment. She chose to ignore her poor attitude she had bigger fish to fry. "Sweetie, I want you to know first and foremost that you have always been very much loved and wanted and nothing is ever gonna change that."

"So it is true then? My dad isn't my father." Maddie's frowned deepened. "How could you lie to him like that?" she turned to Teddy. "And how could you marry her knowing that she was having someone else's baby?"

"We didn't know that not at first. We didn't know until after you were born and we had the DNA test done." Teddy replied.

"What about you?" Maddie turned to Deacon now.

"I'm just as lost and confused in all of this as you are. Today was the first time I even thought of the possibility that you were mine. I need you to know that I would have been there had I known." Deacon replied.

"Can I come stay with you for a couple days?" Maddie's bottom lip quivered as she looked up at Deacon with the eyes she'd inherited from him.

"Over my dead body." Teddy protested.

"Sweetie, why don't you stay and we can work this out?" Rayna tried.

Deacon was in so far over his head that he was bound to drown any second, but he could see that his daughter was just as lost and scared as he was. "Sweetheart go pack a bag. You can come stay for a couple of days."

"Thank you," Maddie ran off to her room to pack a few things.

"Just where the hell do you get off thinking you can make decisions like that?" Teddy got up in Deacon's face.

"I'm her father that's where I got an idea like that. Ya'll decided years ago to lie to her and now look where we're at. As pissed off as I am at both of you and much as I'd like to put my fist through your face I got that little girl to think about and I ain't gonna let her down like that." Deacon took a deep breath. "So, as mad as I am and as hurt as I am. I'm promisin' you both that you ain't gonna lose her. She just needs a little time to sort things out. Poor kid got it from me. You ain't got to like it, but that's the way it's gonna be."

"Teddy, just shut up. He's right. The only way we don't lose her and she doesn't hate us for the rest of her life is if we let her go with him now." Rayna gave in.

"When this backfires I get to say I told you so." Teddy pouted.

Maddie returned a few minutes later with a suitcase and her guitar case. "Can we go now please?"

"Let's go." Deacon ushered her out of the house.

As heartbreaking as it was he had to admit that one of the greatest things he'd ever experienced was holding his little girl in his arms as she cried heart was breaking in two.

* * *

 _Deacon walked out of the rehab center with his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. He wasn't really sure where he was gonna go from here he just knew that he felt better than he had in probably his entire life. His eyes were clear and bright and his figure was muscular and trim from the hours he'd put in at the gym. He got the shock of his life when he saw Rayna leaning up against the side of her old jeep waiting for him._

" _What are you doin' here? I thought you were done with me for good this time." He gave her a half smile._

" _I was waitin for you all the other times you got out of rehab. I couldn't break tradition now could I?" She gave him a smile that made her eyes light up._

" _I really don't deserve you." He shook his head._

" _You're right, you don't, but you've got me anyway." She ran towards him._

 _He opened his arms just in time to catch her. He hugged her tightly and spun her around before putting her back on her feet. She surprised them both when she planted a passionate kiss on his lips. They proceeded to stand there and make out like a couple of teenagers for at least five minutes before they broke apart._

" _I had another reason for coming here in person today and not just to keep from breaking tradition." She opened the back door of her jeep and pulled out a tiny bundle wrapped in a pink blanket._

" _I was gone long enough for you to have a baby." His eyes were downcast and his face dropped in disappointment._

" _Madison Miranda, momma has someone very important that she wants you to meet." She ignored his last comment in favor of staring down at her two-week old daughter. She placed Maddie into Deacon's arms._

" _What? What am I supposed to do with her, Ray?" He couldn't have been more confused if he tried. He cradled the infant gently in his arms._

" _I would like to formally introduce you to Madison Miranda Claybourne. This is your baby girl, daddy. And this is your absolute last chance. You screw up again without tryin' to get help and you'll lose both of us." Rayna warned him._

" _Well, hi Miss Maddie, I'm your daddy and I promise to do the best that I know how." Deacon pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. He carefully examined his brand new baby girl. He counted to make sure that she had all of her fingers and her toes. He was excited when he saw that she had fingers like his. He'd had a guitar in her hands in no time and she'd be a natural at it unlike her mother. He'd have to do something about all the pink lace and bows that Rayna seemed so fond of dressing her in. He didn't want his little girl to be scared of getting a little dirty or of going fishing with him and touching the worms._

" _You're gonna do just fine, babe. I know that you will do everything that you can for us. And all you have to do is ask for help if you feel yourself losing control. As long as you do that I have no problem sticking by you." Rayna melted watching him with their daughter. She knew in that moment that she had done the right thing by telling him and by not marrying Teddy Conrad when he had offered. She wouldn't have traded this moment right here for anything in the world._

Deacon shot up in his chair beside Rayna's bed with a start between the vivid dream he'd just had the sound of raised voices he was a little off kilter.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Teddy asked him.

"Really, Deacon? Don't you think you've caused her enough trouble lately?" Tandy added.

"You need to get out of here before I call security and have them throw you out of here." Lamar barked out.

"Stop it! Just everyone stop it! He has every right to be here too. If he has to leave then dad should have to leave too. Whether any of you like it or not he's my father and I love him and more importantly mom loves him. I can't think of anyone else she'd rather have by her side when she wakes up than him. Even though they are still mad at each other right now." Maddie made her feelings known.

"Maddie, you don't know what you're saying." Tandy tried to calm her niece down.

"Yes I do know what I'm saying. Deacon didn't do anything wrong. None of you believe it but he would never do anything to hurt her no matter how badly he just found out that she hurt him. He's her prince charming and if she's gonna wake up for anyone it'll be him." Huge tears rolled down Maddie's cheeks. She was so much like her father that it wasn't funny. But some of her feistiness came from her mother too.

"Baby girl, it's ok I'll go. Just if she wakes up let her know that I was here." Deacon got to his feet. He didn't want to fight at Rayna's bedside while she was fighting for her life.

"No, I mean it. If you go he goes." Maddie pointed at Teddy. "If he can be here than so can you. He's her ex husband, but you're her boyfriend even if you are having a fight right now." She stood her ground she wasn't going to back down for anything.

Deacon went to her and pulled her into his arms. "Shh, you're ok, baby girl. It's all gonna be ok. Your momma is gonna be just fine. I know that you're sad and you're scared, but you don't have to defend me that's not your job. It's my job to defend you. I'll stay and if anyone has a problem with that I guess they will just have to deal with it." He looked around at the other three people in the room to let them know he meant business. He rocked Maddie gently in his arms and kissed the top of her head to reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere unless she wanted him to.

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A/N: Here's the first chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers.

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Chapter 2

Two Weeks Earlier

Rayna sat on the side of her bed holding proof positive in her hands of what she had known for the last few weeks now. There was no way to deny it anymore and it only made an already complicated situation that much worse. The only good thing was that this wasn't thirteen years ago and Deacon wasn't a raging drunk. He'd really surprised her with the way that he had stepped up with Maddie the other night even though she could see it in his eyes that he was in over his head. The difference was this time she'd seen the will there to save his own life rather than let himself drown.

Now, the only thing to do was get him to talk to her about something other than Maddie. Hell, he wasn't even talking to her about their daughter. Deacon Claybourne of all people refused to do anything other than text her about Maddie and her persistent refusal to speak to her or Teddy. As much as it pained her she was glad that her little girl had her daddy for this. She was just like him and he was the only one that would be able to help her navigate the waters of how she was feeling. She knew one thing for sure he wouldn't let her drown and go down the same path that he had.

She didn't have the time or the will to let the jumbled mess inside her headspace take over right now. She had things to do, so she needed to take everything Deacon related and stick back into the box that she had buried in the deep recesses of her mind almost fourteen years ago. Who was she kidding? Deacon had never stayed in the box she tried to keep him in. He was always there in the forefront of her mind.

The way his skin felt against hers and the taste of his lips after that first sip of coffee in the morning. And the way that they tasted after he'd been on a bender. It didn't matter drunk or sober he still set her body on fire in ways that no other man had ever been able to. The way his tongue felt in her mouth and against her skin as it traced a path down her body to the one spot she wanted it to go the most. The weight of his member in her hand or the taste of it in her mouth.

Involuntarily her hand slid down her stomach and into the front of her black, lacy panties that just so happened to be a favorite of Deacon's. She lay back on her bed and caressed herself one hand in her panties gliding through her wet folds and the other under her bra teasing her nipples until they were hard as pebbles. By the time she was finished her body was covered in a sheen of sweat, her heart was beating rapidly, and her breathing was erratic. It hadn't taken her any longer than five minutes to reach climax. She sat up disgusted with herself. It was a good thing that she hadn't taken a shower yet. Here she was supposed to be helping Juliette bury her mother and she was masturbating to thoughts of Deacon who could barely stand her at the moment.

Honestly that wasn't the first time that she had done that while thinking about Deacon. It had been a hell of a lot more satisfying than sex with Teddy had ever been, but especially towards the end of their marriage their sex life had really gone to hell. If she had to finish herself off anyway she might as well do it thinking about the one man who had never failed to get her there.

She showered quickly and dressed in a modest black dress with a string of pearls around her neck. It was an appropriate look for a mourner with just the right amount of couture thrown in for good measure. She slipped on a pair of black pumps. A cemetery was certainly no place to be traipsing around in six inch heels. Without her girls there her house was almost like a mausoleum and she had to get out of there before the silence drove her to drink. It wasn't like she could anyway, but it sure was a tempting notion.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Deacon did his absolute best to avoid Rayna at the graveside service. He stood there stoically dressed in an all black ensemble. He still wasn't ready to talk to her face to face. And honestly he didn't know what he'd say to her if he did. He felt like he was floundering with Maddie. He hated that no matter what he tried he couldn't get her to talk to Rayna. If nothing else, he could grudgingly admit that she had only tried to do what was best for their baby girl. He was pretty damn proud of the smile that he'd managed to get out of her that morning when he dropped her off at school.

He saw Rayna walking toward him and his first inclination was to bolt. He wanted to run away from her as far and as fast as he could. Because she was the one person who would always be able to read him no matter what. All it would take would be for her to look in his eyes one time and she'd be able to see that he wasn't really mad at her he was hurt and that despite the hurt he still loved her and wanted to work it out. He didn't want her to know all of that just yet. He wanted her to suffer for a little while and think about what she had done not just to him, but to their daughter as well.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Juliette intercepted her before she could reach him. He took that opportunity to walk back to his truck and make a get away before she could catch up to him. It seemed like he spent most of his life running from something. First it had been his father and now it was the love of his life. He hadn't been able to outrun his father's demons he'd had to face them head on. He wouldn't be able to outrun Rayna either he'd have to face her much the same way.

He unhooked his phone from the charger in the center console and dialed the one number that he rather shoot himself in the foot than call.

"Tandy, it's Deacon, please don't hang up on me." He wouldn't have called her if it weren't important.

"So, you screwed it up already and you need someone to bail you out?" Came Tandy's snarky reply from the other end of the line.

"No, I have to go to a memorial at the Bluebird for Juliette's momma tonight and I needed someone to watch Maddie. She refuses to talk to Rayna or Teddy and I don't really have any trustworthy friends that I can leave her with, so that left you. I'd take her with me, but I think that poor little girl has gone through enough heartache for a little while." He closed his eyes and counted to ten to keep himself from saying something that he would regret.

"You know the best thing you can do for her is going back to just being Uncle Deacon, right? She has a good father who has given her a better life than you ever could have. And you're just sitting back and letting her destroy her relationships with her parents that have always been there because you're both petulant children. The only difference is she's actually a child and you're a grown man." She snipped back.

"I can't do that. I can't walk off and abandon my little girl. It was one thing when I didn't know she was mine, but it's different now that we both know. I can't walk away and have her wonder for the rest of her life why I didn't love her enough to forge a relationship with her. Now do you wanna watch your niece for the night or not?" He stopped himself short of saying all the things that he wanted to say to her. There was no doubt in his mind that she had played a key role in keeping his daughter from him.

"Of course I wanna see her. I'll pick her up. I still know where you live. Lord knows I picked my sister up there enough times after you two had had one of your massive fights." She hung up in his ear before he had the chance to say anything else.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

The next time Deacon saw Rayna it was as he was walking into the Bluebird. He turned around on his heel and left, but it was too late she had already seen him and she followed him out into the parking lot where he climbed into the driver's seat of his truck. His hands shook with rage and he couldn't get the key in the ignition no matter how hard he tried.

Rayna yanked open the door. She took one look at his shaky hands and suspected the worst out of him. "Scoot over, there's no way I'm letting you drive home like this."

He didn't argue with her mostly because he was in no condition to. What he needed was a meeting even though he had just come from one. She was the only person who had the ability to make him come undone like that. He moved over to the passenger seat and handed her his keys.

"You managed to make it two whole days as a father before you managed to go out and get shitfaced. Congratulations, Deac, that was two days longer than I thought you would make it." She spit out at him. She didn't know where that had come from because she really didn't mean it.

"At least that means you still believe in me a little bit. And for your information you can either take me home or take me to a meetin'. I haven't had a drink in my daughter's lifetime and I'm not gonna start now. I don't really wanna talk to you I just want you to drive." He crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

She berated herself mentally she should have known better than that. She knew that he was always one bad day from slipping, but she also knew that with as fiercely as he loved Maddie he wouldn't risk being cut out of her life again. "Well, that's just too fuckin' bad, Deacon. You're gonna have to talk to me now and for the next eighteen years whether you want to or not." She took a piece of paper out of her purse and shoved it into his hands.

He looked the paper over and his eyes grew wide when he saw the words pregnant typed neatly across the bottom of the page. He didn't say anything as she drove he just stared at the piece of paper in his hands. Here it was his second chance to be a father from the beginning. Their second chance to get it right and be a family this time and all he had to do was open his mouth and talk to her. To tell her that this made him happier than he knew how to put into words that the past didn't matter they would find a way to work it all out between and for the sake of their children. Children, a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he thought that word. He was going to be a father of two. That both excited and scared the hell out of him at the same time.

She drove in silence stealing a look at him out of the corner of her eye every so often. For the first time since she'd met him she couldn't get a read on him. Normally she knew his every thought and his every feeling because he wore it all out on his sleeve for her. Tonight for whatever reason she just couldn't get a glimpse into his soul like she normally could. Finally, when she could take it no longer she turned to face him. "Don't you have a damn thing to say or are you just gonna sit there and pout?"

"What the hell do you want me to say, Ray? Two days ago I just found out that I'm the father of a thirteen-year-old daughter who can semi take care of herself. Now you're tellin' me that you're bringin' one into the world that's gonna be completely helpless and depend on me for everythin'. What am I supposed to say to that, Rayna? Am I supposed to tell you that I'm thrilled and pissed at the same time. Is it ok for me to ask why I'm good enough to be this baby's daddy, but I wasn't good enough to be Maddie's? You didn't give me a chance. And now Maddie is gonna be beside herself even more than she already was. And what about poor Daphne? You say you didn't wanna hurt anyone, well look at how that turned out for you! You went and you hurt every last single one of us. Except for your sister who I'm sure was in your ear tellin' you that he never has to know that this is his baby and you'll be better off without him." He finally let go of everything that he had kept bottled up.

"First of all it's we not me. We are bringing another baby into this world. I may be carrying it for nine months, but we are doing this together come hell or high water. You're just gonna have to find a way to forgive me, so we can raise this baby up together as family with the girls. There's no two ways about it. I refuse to do this without you again. I didn't want to do it without you the first time, Deacon. You didn't leave me much of a choice though. You don't know how many damn times I wished that I hadn't listened to Tandy and I had just gone ahead and told you. The hardest thing I ever had to do was keep you from your daughter. My punishment for that was havin' to stare down at your face every time I looked at her." Tears were streaming down her face.

"I can let go of the mad, but I ain't ready to forgive you just yet. I feel my resolve crumble a little more every day, but you don't get off the hook that easily. I've paid for my sins in spades, Ray. You gotta pay for yours too. I'm gonna be there every step of the way with this baby, but things between you and I well that's gonna be put on pause. I ain't sayin' that we ain't gonna be a family. I ain't even sayin' that I'm breakin' up with you. I'm just sayin' that you gotta earn my trust back." That was probably the most adult thing to ever come out of his mouth. He folded up the pregnancy test and put it in his pocket.

"I deserve that and I can live with that." She nodded her head in understanding.

Neither one of them noticed the set of headlights that came out of nowhere. The next thing either of them knew Deacon's truck had rolled over three times. For Deacon it was like a bad sense of déjà vu from the accident he'd been in with his best friend. Somehow he found the strength to pull her out of the car despite the damage that had been done to both his writs.

* * *

 _Deacon sat on the end of the dock up at the cabin with a fishing pole in his hand beside him sat a little boy that looked just like him also holding a fishing pole._

" _Daddy, how much longer are we gonna have to wait?" The little boy complained impatiently. His mop of dark hair was hidden under a baseball cap._

" _I don't know, Vince. Fish can be temperamental sometimes kinda like your momma. If the conditions ain't just right then they ain't havin' no part of it." He put his arm around his son. He and Rayna had named the boy for his dead best friend._

" _Momma, says that you're the temperamental one and that she's gonna have 'em put damn on your headstone cause that's your favorite word. She also says she's gonna be there to see it cause she's the one that's gonna kill you." Vince grinned his two front teeth missing._

" _Vincent Cash, you don't repeat everythin' that your momma says." Deacon scolded him half heartedly. God help them if that boy got anymore like him._

" _So, I wasn't supposed to tell momma that she's gonna be ten minutes late for her own damn funeral?" Vince asked innocently._

" _What am I gonna do with you, boy?" Deacon had to fight hard to hide his smirk._

" _Sell me to the Indians. But Maddie says you'd just have to give me away cause I'm so much trouble." Vince shrugged his little shoulders._

" _And that's the last time that we let your big sister babysit you." Deacon shook his head. His children were sure to be the death of him one day._

" _Daphne says that they could get pretty good money for me as a trained monkey for the circus since I climb so good." Vince reported proudly._

" _Daphne has good reason to want to sell you. You're always doin' somethin' to her." Deacon didn't bother to hide his grin this time. Vince terrorized his sisters. Not that they would ever admit it, but they enjoyed every minute of it._

" _No one is selling my baby if I have anything to say about it." Rayna joined them out on the dock. She kissed the top of Vince's head and pecked Deacon's lips. "Now, what kind of trouble are my husband and my son getting into out here?"_

" _We're just fishin', momma." Vince defended._

" _Yeah, we're just fishin', Ray." Deacon smiled at her._

" _You two catching anything other than a sunburn?" She asked. She could see that her little boy's ears and nose were red and Deacon's weren't in much better shape. "I told you to put sunblock on him."_

" _I did put it on him before we came out." Deacon told his wife._

" _Deacon, you've been out here for hours you have to reapply it." Rayna sighed and rolled her eyes. It seemed he would never learn._

" _Like you have to do with your lipstick when daddy kisses it off of you?" Vince asked curiously._

" _Exactly like when daddy kisses my lipstick off of me and he knows we have a show to play. I think that momma and daddy need to be more careful with what they say around you. You soak up everythin' like a little sponge." She tickled his sides. His giggle was the sweetest melody she'd ever heard in her life._

" _The boy is bound to figure out that his momma and daddy like each other a little bit too much. Of course it won't be because of a broken lock on the bathroom door like Maddie found out." Deacon knew he was taking his life in his hands mentioning that._

" _Deacon, that is not never mentioning it again. She would barely look at us for weeks. She still turns the other way if she sees us kissing." She sighed. That man could infuriate her like no one else on the face of the earth. "Now, come on inside both of you. It's time for lunch. And you're gonna let me put something on those sunburns and I'm not gonna hear any arguments out of either of you about it." She laid down the law. Sometimes it was like having two sons instead of one. Deacon and Vince were the best of buddies._

" _Yes, ma'am," Deacon reeled in the line on his fishing pole and sat it down on the dock._

" _Yes, ma'am, momma." Vince parroted what his father had said._

" _You two boys are so lucky that I love you or I would sell you." She laughed and shook her head._

"Deacon," Tandy nudged his shoulder gently to wake him. "Deacon," She pushed him more forcefully.

Deacon sat bolt upright. "Is she ok? What's goin' on?" He knocked the fog of sleep out of his head. He'd been camped out in the waiting room since they only allowed two people in the ICU room at a time. As long as Tandy and Lamar were there during the day they made sure he didn't get into that room.

"She's awake and she's wanting you. She can't talk yet, so be gentle with her." She replied.

He nodded his head stoically. "I can do that." He got up on shaky legs and made his way to Rayna's room. He didn't know what to expect when he saw her.

Rayna's eyes lit up the minute she saw him set foot into the room. He had to be the most handsome man she'd even seen. Even with his rumpled clothes and two weeks' growth of beard.

" _Your hand,"_ She mouthed silently. She pointed to the cast on his hand with her eyes.

"Hey, Ray, it's good to see you awake. Don't worry 'bout my hand there's a doc that can fix me up good as new. I'll be playin' hot licks on the guitar again before you know it. That is if you'll have me back in your band. Don't try to talk. I just wanted to come and make sure you and the baby are ok." He smiled at her. The light in her eyes dimmed and he instantly knew.

" _I'm sorry,"_ She mouthed.

"Don't be sorry, don't you dare be sorry. That wasn't your fault. It was a drunk driver that hit us. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. If I had just talked to you like you kept tryin' to get me to we wouldn't have been sittin' in the middle of the damn road talkin'." He didn't want her to blame herself for a second. Most of the blame rested on him anyway. Maybe guys like him really didn't deserve a second chance. Those were only for people who had truly changed for the better.

Her body shook with silent sobs when she saw how broken and defeated he looked. More than anything she had wanted that baby not just for herself, but for him. He deserved the chance to get to be there from day one.

Without any hesitation he crawled into bed next to her and held her while she cried into his chest. A nurse had come in to scold him about being in bed with her, but one dirty look was all it took to send her packing. Rayna finally cried herself to sleep an hour later. An hour after that he carefully extricated himself from the tight grasp she had on his shirt and slipped out of bed quietly. She needed her rest and he didn't know what he needed at the moment.

* * *

Tandy was waiting for him with a cup of coffee when he walked back into the waiting room. "Here, it looks like you could use this." She handed it to him.

Deacon took a slug out of the cup burning his throat in the process, but he didn't give a damn at all. "Thanks," he sat the cup down. "Why are you bein' so nice to me all of a sudden?"

"You've had a pretty rough couple of weeks. First you found out that you're a father, then you were in that accident and you may never play guitar again, then Teddy took you to court to challenge your rights as Maddie's father. And now this with Rayna." She listed off.

He turned his back to her and rapped the knuckles of his uninjured hand on the window sill. "I don't want the girls to know. I don't want them knowin' that their momma was pregnant and because I was stupid and stubborn she lost our baby. They almost lost their momma because of me." The tears he had held in for Rayna's sake finally poured down his face. He kept his back turned he didn't want to give Tandy the satisfaction of seeing him cry.

She walked over and gently put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm the first person to blame you for anything that I think can remotely be your fault, but this wasn't your fault. It could have easily been your fault if you were still drinking and if you had been driving that other truck, but you're sober and potentially lost a lot in that accident too. You said it yourself Rayna didn't just lose that baby you did too. And as much as I hate to say it I'm afraid that you two finally lost each other. You haven't left this hospital in two weeks, Deacon. You sat constant vigil either out here or in there by her side. I won't ever doubt your love for my sister again."

"But you won't ever think that I'm good enough for her either. This baby was supposed to be our second chance and I'm afraid that we lost it all." He swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"Not on your life, but I won't ever try to stand in the way of you two again. I figured out it's a game of who hurt who the most this time with you two. I actually think your drinking aside she wins that game. She kept your child from you. I also know that these last few weeks with you she's been happier than I've seen her since I don't know when. So, if I have anything to say about it you haven't lost you second chance." She told him. "I just said something really nice to you. Could you look at me please?"

He turned to look at her with a tearstained face. "I don't know what to say to that."

She surprised them both by pulling him into a hug. "Is there anyone that I can call for you? Can I take you to a meeting?"

"I don't know what I need right now. Maddie's with Teddy against her wishes and mine, so I don't have her to be there for right now. I don't know what I'd say in a meeting and I don't wanna lay this on Scarlett." He replied.

"Would it be alright if we both just stood here and cried together for a minute?" The tears finally fell from her eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty damn good right now." He let himself be vulnerable with her. He laid his head on her shoulder and cried like his heart was breaking.

"At least we didn't lose her." She offered as she rubbed his back.

"Thank God for that. I don't know how to live in a world without her in it. Even when she was married she was still my best friend." He hugged her a little tighter as they both mourned. It was an unlikely duo, but they both needed someone at the moment.

* * *

Two Weeks Later

Deacon sat on a bench by the crash site. Balloons and stuffed animals adorned the side of the road along with posters and cards. He wouldn't be there if she hadn't asked him to come. And she was running late as usual. He could set a watch to her being late.

"God, this looks like a shrine. It's morbid." Rayna commented as she walked up.

"More like a memorial. I guess we are the only two people who know that's exactly what it is though. We lost our baby here." He had to swallow back his tears.

"Yeah, I know." She replied dryly. She carried a manila envelope in her hand. "I can't do anything about that baby we lost, but I can do something about the baby I took from you. I heard what Teddy did and I'm so sorry, Deacon." She handed him the envelope.

"What's this?" He asked.

"That's Maddie's amended birth certificate naming you as her father and proof of paternity. I can't give you those thirteen years back, but I can give you both a future as father and daughter. Custody is something that we can work out later. But I happen to know that she would love it if you were there to pick her up from school tomorrow. She misses you and she wants to get to know you. I think guitar lessons might be a good place to start. She told me you started teaching her a little those couple of days she was with you. It's one of the many things you two have in common." She informed him.

"Ray, you didn't have to do this. I didn't want to blow up her life." He was touched by her gesture.

"Her life was blown up the minute she found that paternity test. Now as her parents we have to figure out how to put it back together for her." She told him bluntly.

"What about us, Ray? We talked about bein' a family. Does that still stand or was that just because of the baby?" He asked.

"Damn if I know where to go from here, Deacon. You may never play guitar again and I may never sing again. That's a lot of strain to put on a healthy relationship and let's face it at the moment what we have is not a healthy relationship. You're still mad at me and I need to forgive myself." She replied.

"That didn't answer my question, Rayna. Do you still want to be a family or did you just want me out of a sense of guilt?" He asked more forcefully this time.

"No, Deacon, I wanted you. I wanted to raise up that baby with you. I still want you. I just don't think that we are good for each other at the moment. Regardless of what does or doesn't happen we are stuck with each other for life because of Maddie and we have to get along for her. I just reamed Teddy a new one for the stunt he pulled with taking her away from you like that. She needs at least two of her three parents getting along." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"What exactly are you sayin here, Ray? Are you endin' things with me here tonight or what? I mean it'd be fittin' this is where our child's life ended." He spit out bitterly.

"I'm puttin' us on hold like you said that night." She took out the engagement ring he had given her and forced it into his hand.

"Finally givin' this back?" He asked.

"No, that's my damn ring you understand that? I want it back one day. What I'm sayin' is this time we have to save ourselves before we can save each other. Otherwise it's all gonna fall apart again. You gotta forgive me for Maddie and mourn for our baby. I gotta forgive myself and mourn our child. As much as I would love to we can't do that together right now." She wiped away a tear.

"I see, so I guess this is the end for now." He nodded his head solemnly.

"Not yet, first I want you to take me to our home and make love to me like it's the last time it's ever gonna happen." She didn't mince her words.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What did the doctor say?" He questioned concerned for her health.

"I was only six weeks pregnant. To put it bluntly it was just like having a heavy period. I'm fine to have sex. Deacon, please. I just need this." She begged him.

"I ain't never turned you down and I ain't about to start now." He took her hand and walked her back to her car. He'd walked here since he really couldn't drive with one hand.

They spent all night tangled up naked in his bed having hate sex, breakup sex, makeup sex, and making love. By the time the sun came up she was gone the only evidence she'd ever been there was the scent of her perfume on his pillow case.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys liked it. I know it was a little emotionally draining, but it'll get better from here on out. The worst of the angst is over at any rate. Until next time please review.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 3

Rayna sat naked on the side of Deacon's bed with her back facing him as she redressed.

"So that's it? Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. No rounds two or three today? The girls are with Teddy you normally stay a little longer when you don't have to rush home to them." Deacon laid propped up on his elbow watching her dress.

"In case it slipped your which I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Today is your guitar lesson with Maddie and you have a doctor's appointment to see about when you can get that cast off. I don't know about you, but I rather not explain to our daughter what I'm doing here in the middle of the afternoon." She replied. She looked down at her flat stomach and she had to fight off a wave of grief.

He reached around and rested his hand on her stomach lovingly. "It's not your fault, Ray. I've been tellin' you that for the last eight weeks and I'm gonna keep tellin' you until you believe me." He fought off a wave of sadness as well. By now there should be a little bump where his hand rested and it should be getting close to time for them to know if it were a boy or a girl.

"Deacon, please move your hand. I know that there should be a baby there just as well as you do. I know that it's harder on you, because you were presented with a full grown teenager and you didn't get to experience this. So, please don't do this right now. I need to get to my vocal therapy and you have Maddie. I can't go to pieces in your arms right now over a baby we clearly weren't meant to have." She moved his hand.

"Would it be an absolutely horrible thing if Maddie caught us here together?" He asked her. They didn't really put a label on what they were doing. It was only supposed to be a one off type deal, but they kept falling back into bed together. With them sex was never just sex, but neither of them was willing to forgive and forget yet.

"Have you forgiven me yet?" She asked him.

"I'm not as mad at you as I was. And I'm workin' real hard on forgivin' you, Ray. I get closer and closer to it every day. It's just really damn hard." He admitted.

"That answer right there is the reason why Maddie can't find me here. I don't want to give her false hope and take it away from her again. You said that you didn't want to let me off the hook that you'd paid for your sins and I needed to pay for mine too. Well, guess what? I did only you're paying the price too. Maddie refuses to look at me and she's barely speaking to me. I don't know what we call ourselves doing right now we are together, but we aren't together." She sighed loudly.

"Hey, don't say that losin' the baby wasn't punishment for keepin' Maddie from me. That was just somethin' that couldn't be helped. I'm hopin' that once we've both forgiven you that maybe we can try again. Cause believe me I wanted that baby just as much as you did. And Maddie she's like me, Ray. She's gonna hold on to that anger as long as she can and we can't let her do that." His eyes watered up.

Once she was dressed she bent over and kissed him without addressing his comment. "I have to go. Call me and let me know what the doctor says. And please make sure that Maddie gets her homework done before you two start playing around with your guitars."

"Yeah, sure I'll let you know. I don't need instructions for Maddie I know how to take care of her." He retorted.

"I know that you don't need instructions, but I'm her momma and havin' to share her three ways is new to me. Have I told you how much I appreciate that you didn't insist on keepin' her for a week too?" She asked him.

"The only reason I didn't is because of Daphne. I don't want her to feel like she's losin' her sister. They have what you and Tandy have and I don't want to do anythin' to mess that up." He rolled over and gathered his clothes.

"So, Scarlett has a thing tomorrow night that she has to go to for the label. I thought you could come as my date for lack of a better word." She offered. She knew that it was going to take baby steps, but anything was better than nothing.

"Yeah, I can do that. It'll be good for the two of us to be seen back in public together after the accident that way it doesn't look like there's any bad blood between us." He agreed.

"Great, you can pick me up. And I mean actually pick me up this time. There are no more secret children being kept in the closet that are going to keep you from being there." She told him.

"I'll be there, Ray. It's a promise." He swore to her. "But, if this is a showcase how are you gonna get around singin'?"

"You leave that to me. You know I always have a plan." She pecked his lips one more time before she left.

* * *

"Listen to you play. Anybody heard that they would think you were a Claybourne or somethin'." Deacon beamed with pride at his daughter. He couldn't exactly give her lessons the way he wanted to his hand in a cast, but he could more or less show her what to do.

"You have to say that you're my father." Maddie blushed.

"I don't have to stay that it's true. You're better than a lot of session players that I've heard. And forgive me for bein' a little proud that you got your obvious talent for playin' from me. I can't take all that credit for that amazin' voice, but I can for those guitar skills. Lord knows your momma can't play to save her life." He joked. He didn't want any of the ill will he still harbored toward Rayna to spill over to Maddie. She had issues of her own with her mother without him adding to them.

"Do you really think that I'm good enough to do this professionally?" She asked him.

"I don't just think you're good enough I know that you're good enough. Your momma and I haven't always got things right, but we got it perfect when we made you. You are the best of both of us. As a musician you're a real double threat. You can sing and play guitar. We get far enough along in our lessons and I'll teach about song writin' so we can make you a triple threat." He grinned at her.

"What is with you and mom anyway? I mean I know that you have a lot to forgive her for, but you guys are still talking." She broached the subject.

"Your momma and I are always gonna talk because of you if for no other reason. We are tryin' real hard to get along and set a good example for you and to make sure that you know how loved you are no matter what. I don't know where we go from here, but we will both always love you." He promised her.

"But do you still love her?" She wasn't ready to let the subject drop.

"I'll love her 'til the day I die. Sometimes love just isn't enough when there is so much water under the bridge." He gave a measured reply.

"I ruined everything. If I'd never gone snooping in mom's closet, then you two would still be together. From the start I was nothing more than a mistake if not for me you two would have stayed together." Tears started to fall down her face.

He pulled her into his arms and held onto her tightly. "I don't ever wanna hear you talk 'bout yourself that way again. There is no way in hell that you could be a mistake. You came from two people who love each other so deeply that that love created you. You are a product of true love and that, well that can never be a mistake no matter how you came about."

"But still I messed everything up. If she hadn't been pregnant with me she wouldn't have run off and married dad." She argued.

He used the pads of his thumbs to wipe her tears away and took a deep breath. It was time for her to stop seeing him as the innocent one who had done no wrong. If that meant she hated him too he could deal with it as long as it meant she forgave Rayna a little bit. "I need to tell you some hard truths about myself and I need you to listen. Can you do that for me?"

She nodded her head meekly.

"Maddie, I'm an alcoholic. I haven't had a drink in your lifetime and the night I found out about you I was tempted to. You see, your momma she put up with a lot from me with my drinkin'. She bailed me out of jail and sat by my side in a hospital after a bender more times than I care to count. So, when she got pregnant I guess she figured that she just couldn't trust me with you and she choose Teddy to be your daddy. I'm not sayin' that what she did was right I'm just explainin' to you why she did it. Do I wish she had told me as soon as she found out? Of course I wish that then maybe things could have been different. I can't promise you that I would've quit drinkin' and turned into a different person over night, but I would have done my best for you. I guess what hurts me the most is that she didn't believe in me enough to tell me, she could have still picked someone else over me as long as I knew about you." He laid it all out on the line for her. He felt so raw and vulnerable that it wasn't funny, but this was something she needed to hear from him.

"So because you were sick she took the decision away from you? She didn't even give you a chance to prove that you could change. She decided everything for all of us because she couldn't believe in you and then she acts like we are all just supposed to forgive her for lying to us for so long." Maddie raged.

"Hey now, she'd given me four chances to prove that I could change and four times I failed her. How was she supposed to know that the fifth time would do the trick? I guess I didn't leave her with much of a choice. She couldn't take the chance of failin' you. So, no matter how much it hurt her she had to walk away and do what was best for you. At the time that just wasn't me. I'm the one who made her stop believin' in me, because all I'd ever done was let her down. She made the decision, but it was on me, Maddie. I was the one who couldn't be counted on. So, if you need to blame someone blame me, but let your momma off the hook. She was just protectin' you, 'cause that's her job." Deacon threw himself under the bus in hopes of salvaging Rayna and Maddie's relationship. As pissed as he was at Rayna he knew how much losing the baby hurt her and that it was killing her to feel like she was losing Maddie too. If he could give her just a little something back, then he would allow his relationship with his daughter to suffer for it.

"But, you did get better and now we have time to get to know each other." His words seemed to have done the trick with her.

"That's right, we have all the time in the world, baby girl." He smiled at her.

* * *

" _How you doin' over there with him, daddy?" Rayna lay on a hospital bed and she looked over at Deacon who sat in a rocking chair holding their newborn son._

" _I'm doin' alright so far. The little guy seems to like me just fine. He doesn't cry or fuss as long as I'm holdin' him." Deacon may have been holding a conversation with her, but he had never once taken his eyes off of his son._

" _Of course not he knows that his daddy's arms are the safest place that he can be." She'd seen him go through a lot of emotions through the years and she'd seen him smile a lot, but nothing compared to the look he had on his face now as he gazed at their son. His boy, the very manifestation of his manhood. She knew without a doubt that this was the role that he had been born for. Sure he was a natural born guitarist, but his real talent lied in being a father. She saw that every day when he interacted with the girls and she was seeing that now as he tended to their son._

 _In all the years she'd known him never before had she seen him so awestruck and mesmerized. The only the time she'd seen a look close to that on his face had been the night they'd met._

" _I ain't so sure 'bout that. I'm just gettin' the hang of the two that can fend for themselves. This little guy needs me for everythin' and I don't wanna let him down." He played with his son's fingers._

" _You won't let him down. Do you know how I know that? You could have gone out and got drunk the night you found out about his sister being yours, but you didn't you manned up and did what you had to. And I've watched you do it every day since then." She didn't know when he was going to get it through his head that she trusted him with their children._

 _He smiled and took that in stride. "Look at that, Ray, he's got guitar playin' hands. Those long fingers are perfect for bendin' them strings."_

" _He gets those from his daddy. Speakin' of which he still needs a name." She reminded him._

" _I'm still against you namin' him after me." He objected for about the thousandth time._

" _You're the man that I want him to be like when he grows up. You're the strongest kindest man that I know. So, yes I want to name him Deacon John Claybourne Jr." She maintained stubbornly._

" _You know I think I have somethin' I like a little better." He grinned. He knew that he wasn't going to win the war, but he could win the battle._

" _And what's that?" She asked._

" _Deacon John Cash Claybourne Jr. We can call him Cash and that'll keep us from gettin' confused." He tried to compromise._

" _John Cash? You want his middle names to be John and Cash?" She laughed._

" _Yeah, that's what I just said." He arched his eyebrow._

" _Only because I love you and only because I'm too tired to argue with you over this any longer am I gonna agree to this." She finally relented._

" _Momma secretly likes your name, Cash, don't let that act she's tryin' to put on fool you." He cooed at his son._

" _How is it that you think you're no good at bein' a daddy?" She could watch him with that baby for hours and never grow tired of it._

" _I guess because I didn't have the best daddy in the world. I'm scared I'm gonna mess it up." He admitted._

" _I remember you with Scarlett when she was a baby and how amazing you were with her. Both my girls always adored you even before Maddie knew that you were her father. And this little guy has got you wrapped tightly around his finger already. It's safe to say you're a damn good daddy." She told him._

" _I'm just doin' the best I know how." He blushed._

" _Now, bring me my baby boy here before he starts to think his daddy loves him more than his momma does." She ordered playfully._

 _He got up and carefully placed Cash into her arms. "There you go, momma. God forbid the boy like me a little better." He teased._

" _Hey there, Deacon John Cash Claybourne, I'm your momma. I'm gonna be your best friend and your warden at times cause I can already tell that you and your daddy are gonna be best buddies and I don't mind that one little bit." She placed a soft kiss on the crown of his head._

Rayna woke up on the couch in a cold sweat in response to the pounding on her front door. So much for her relaxing afternoon nap before she had to go to the Edgehill stockholders showcase. She really needed to get it together. Women all over the world lost babies every day and they were still able to carry on. She was luckier than most because she already had two amazing daughters. Losing a baby that was barely more than a tiny cluster of cells shouldn't have hurt this much when she already had two perfect girls.

"It took you long enough. I've only been out here knockin' for ten minutes." Deacon commented when she answered the door. He was dressed in a white shirt with a paisley patterns and pearl snaps on it underneath a black vest. He wore a pair of black jeans and his old cowboy boots. He looked Rayna up and down. "And you're not even close to bein' ready I see. Not that that should surprise me. Though I thought you'd be a little closer to bein' ready than this. This thing does start in three hours."

Her hair was thrown up in a haphazard bun and she didn't have a stitch of makeup on. She wore a pair of yoga pants and an old Bluebird t-shirt. "Shit, I wanted to take a nap before I started getting ready and I slept longer than I intended to. If you can bare with me I can get ready in a hurry. It's not like I have to be red carpet worthy tonight. I just haven't been sleeping well." She opened the door wider to allow his entry.

"Ray, no offense, but you look like shit. And I think it's more than you just haven't been sleepin' well. I think that everythin' is startin' to take a toll on you. You look like your wound up like an eight-day clock and I have a pretty good idea of why that is. I also know that you probably won't talk to me about it. So, I can let you go get ready and be tense all night or I can do somethin' that will help you relax if only for a little while."

He didn't ask her permission he just sat down on the couch and pulled her into his lap. He ran his lips over her neck while he slipped his hand down the front of her panties. The message may have gotten jumbled up when they talked, but sex always came through loud and clear for them. He quickly brought her to orgasm with his fingers without expecting anything in return. It hadn't been about getting her off anyway. It had been to show her that she was safe with him and she could trust him and she could tell him what she was trying so hard to hold back.

She brought her arm up over her head and wrapped it around his neck before she leaned up and kissed him. "Deacon, that was just what I needed. I don't know how you always know, but you do." She snuggled close to his chest and she finally let the dam that had been holding back her tears burst.

"Shh, I know. Trust me I know how bad it hurts. I didn't experience it physically, but I am emotionally. I don't even know what to say 'bout it in my meetings. You're the only person I can talk to 'bout and I don't wanna upset you anymore than you already are." He held her tightly.

"I wanted that baby so, so badly. It was because for the first time I was actually happy to be pregnant and I know that that sounds horrible. I love both my girls to death and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. But with Maddie I was scared and I didn't know how things were gonna turn out. With Daphne I loved Teddy, but I wasn't in love with him and it tore me to pieces that I was having a baby that wasn't yours. But this time with this baby I got to tell you from the start and we were gonna get to go through it all together and we were gonna raise him up together." She cried into his chest.

"I know I was lookin' forward to teachin' him to play guitar, and playin' catch out in the yard, and fishin' with him up at the cabin, and takin' him to ball games. Coachin' his little league and peewee football teams. I just had it all mapped out in my head. Teachin' him to drive and talkin' to him 'bout girls. Sittin' with him while he drank his first beer and tellin' him how to be a good man." For the first time since she told him they lost the baby he allowed himself to really cry in her presence.

He cried into her hair while she cried into his chest and they just held tightly to each other like they were the only thing keeping the other from drowning.

"Sounds to me like we were both hoping for a boy." She said as she dried her tears.

"I think so. I just knew it was a boy don't ask me how, but I was so sure of it." He admitted. He wiped his face. As painful as it was they had both needed that.

"So was I and a momma always knows. I feel like I failed because I didn't do more to protect him." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"We didn't fail him we did the best that we could for him. And I think he knew that his momma and daddy loved him if I never got the chance to put my hand on your belly and say the words. He knew." He assured her.

She pressed her lips to his hard. "Thank you for knowing what to say. And I plan on repaying the favor later, but first I need to get ready for this showcase. The new label head is an ass and I don't want to give him another reason to be on my ass. I'm pretty sure that you still have a couple of shirts over here if you want to change." She got up off of his lap.

"Nah, I'm good it'll dry. It's not like you blew snot on me or you were wearin' makeup. No one will ever know that she cried on me." He winked at her. Sure they still had the Maddie issue to deal with, but at least things were moving in the right direction now. They had to mourn for their child before they could begin to talk about the child that they did have together.

Deacon stood back with a smile on his face as he watched Rayna pose for pictures with Scarlett and Will Lexington the other artist that was signed to her fledgling label. He was so proud of how far she'd come since that night he'd met her in the Bluebird. He'd only been partially right when he'd told Maddie she was the only thing they'd ever gotten perfect together the music they made together was pretty damn magical if he didn't say so himself.

"So, you must be the drunk ex." Jeff Fordham slid up beside Deacon mostly just to trade insults with him.

"I ain't been drunk in well over a decade and the status of our relationship is none of your damn business." Deacon spit back at him.

"I shouldn't insult you like that. Everyone knows that you were the real talent she was just the front man. You wrote most of her songs and you arranged the music for them too. The way I see it she would be nothing without you. You could have been something really big if you hadn't let your blind devotion to her hold you back. Hell, you could still be something big, it's not too late for you. Here's my card give me a call if you're ever interested." Jeff handed him a business card.

"It's a partnership with us. No one did more work than the other. We wrote those songs together I just so happen to be the only one out of the two of us that can play guitar. Everything she's got she's worked her ass off for and more often than not that's been in spite of me not because of me." Deacon glared at him.

"I'm just saying the offer is on the table and it's something for you to think about." Jeff said before he walked away.

"I see that you met Jeff." Rayna walked over and slipped her arm around his waist.

"Yep, and it's a damn good thing that my dominant hand is in a cast or I would have knocked his lights out." Deacon replied.

"Come on, let's just get through the rest of this night so we can get out of here and get back to my place." She whispered in his ear. At this point they were just using sex as a band aid to fix what was wrong between them, but slowly they were starting to talk more things out.

Deacon had come to the rescue when Jeff tried to put her on the spot to get her to sing. He'd had Will and Scarlett step in and preform one of their old songs to appease the stockholders.

* * *

"Where is he, Scarlett?" Rayna showed up to Deacon's house in a panic a week later. After a frantic phone call from Scarlett she figured she better rush right over there and see what was going on.

"He's in the garage and you don't really wanna know what he's doin', but go take a look for yourself." Scarlett replied.

She walked out to the garage to find Deacon with his casted hand in a vice sawing through the cast with a hacksaw.

"Deacon John Claybourne, what the fuck do you think you're doin'?" She demanded of him.

"I think I'm gettin' my guitar playin' skills back. The damn doctor said they could do surgery but there was no guarantee I would keep full function in my hand. So, I said fuck the doctor and I decided that I'd do what's best for me. I know myself better than any damn doctor ever could." He replied casually.

"You're more damn trouble than you're worth sometimes you know that?" She asked him.

"I know that, but you still put up with me, so that is on you." He quipped.

"Just do me a favor and don't saw your hand off. I don't want to have to explain to our daughter why her father is missing a hand." She rolled her eyes at him. There was really nothing that he could do or say that would surprise her anymore.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you enjoyed it. I'm really only using season two as a guideline. I'm keeping Will with Highway 65 and going from there with some stuff. Until next time please review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers. i'm so happy to get so much positive feedback for this.

* * *

Chapter 4

" _The rivers between us are deep and dark as the secrets we keep. We stand on the shores time running by at our feet oh the rivers between us are deep."_ Rayna and Deacon sat in her music room both of them trying to rehab their injuries. They had chosen one of their old songs to practice with because they had that down cold.

" _Our love is like the moon risin' too fast and fadin' too soon. This night will soon be gone help me hold on."_ Her voice cracked on the last note of the chorus and he had to stop playing to rotate his wrist to alleviate the pain he felt.

"It's no fucking use, Deacon. I don't know why we are even trying. Both our careers ended on the side of the road that night along with everything else that we lost. We cling to each other, but is it really helping anything or are we just prolonging the pain?" She was having a little bit of a diva dip. Truthfully her voice didn't sound that bad at all. She just lacked the confidence she needed.

"We are tryin' because we are both gettin' better and better every day. You made it through three songs without your voice crackin' and I made it through three songs without needin' to stick my hand in a bucket of ice. And this whatever it is between us is us doin' what we do best savin' each other even if it hurts at the moment." He argued back with her. He'd never been one to let her give up on herself and he wasn't about to start now.

She put on her bedroom eyes and her best seductress voice. "Deacon, stop preachin' and take me upstairs and fuck me until nothin' else matters anymore." That was one sure fire way to get him to stop arguing with her. It had always worked to distract him and shut him up and that hadn't changed in all the time she'd known him.

He didn't even bother to argue he just scooped her up in his arms and carried her up to her bedroom without another word.

"You know that you have to go now don't you?" Rayna asked him an hour later.

"Yeah, I know. You've gotta go get the girls from school and I have to go home." Deacon stuck out his lip and mock pouted.

"Deacon, if this were any other event tonight you know that I wouldn't hesitate to ask you to go. But, it's my momma's birthday and we always go to the symphony every year. That never panned out so well in past between you and daddy when you tried to go before and I don't want to make anything anymore difficult on the girls." She told him.

"I know I understand that. And I also know how hard this day is on you. So, I'm gonna go. You need to take your usual post sex nap and I should go practice my guitar playin' so more, so I can teach our little girl for real." He kissed her gently after he put his clothes on. He set the alarm on her phone for her so she would wake up in time to get the girls from school and he left without another word.

She lay there staring at the ceiling after he'd gone for she didn't know how long. She fell into a state between wake and sleep and suddenly she was back on her mother's riverside property.

 _A woman with curly strawberry blonde hair sat in a rocker on the edge of the riverbank with a tiny bundle in her arms. She wore a floppy straw hat to save her creamy skin from the sun._

 _Rayna would have recognized that figure anywhere even after this time had passed. "Momma?" she asked her voice barely above a whisper._

 _Virginia Wyatt turned around to look at her youngest daughter with the biggest smile on her face. "Hello, my sweet girl, I've missed you so. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for when you needed me the most. You bore the brunt of Lamar's wrath even worse than Tandy did after I was gone, but you were also the one who was brave enough to stand up to him."_

" _Momma, I don't understand. Where are we? What's happening?" Rayna asked. There were so many questions that she needed and wanted to ask her mother, but she wasn't sure where to start._

 _Virginia got up and stroked her cheek. "You are the best of both of us. Lamar's ambition and my courage and whoever dares to get in your way better watch out. That's why you don't need to be scared of what's right in front of you. There is a man that loves you with all of his heart and he always has. What happened on the road that night wasn't either of your faults. You both need to get that notion out of your heads now. You have so much to look forward to if you'll just embrace each other fully rather than keep each other at arm's length."_

" _But, I could have left my girls that night the same way that you left me." Rayna cried._

" _But, you didn't. You need to learn from my mistake. Deacon is your Watty and you need to hold on to him for dear life and not be scared to plunge in feet first with him. You're both gonna need each other for the part that comes next." Virginia told her and then she shushed the baby in her arms as he began to fuss. "It's ok, sweet boy, you're ok." She cooed. The baby boy too had strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes._

" _Is that him?" Rayna reached over and stroked his cheek gently with the tip of her finger._

" _Yeah, that's him. The red hair aside I think he looks just like his daddy." Virginia gave her another smile. "I need to go now, my girl, you just remember what I said. Don't be scared anymore, he's just proved to you that he can handle this."_

The alarm that Deacon had set pulled Rayna back to reality from wherever the hell it was she'd just been. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach or the way her mother's words had left her so confused. She didn't have time to sort any of that out now, right now she needed to go get her girls from school least Maddie have yet another reason to be mad at her.

* * *

Deacon sat back on his couch fiddling around on his guitar trying to build his strength back up when there was a frantic knock on his door. He dropped what he was doing and jumped up to answer the door.

"Ray, what's goin' on?" He asked. The unshed tears in her eyes concerned him more than the fact that she had shown up on his doorstep wearing an evening gown.

"Is Maddie here?" Rayna asked him.

"No she's not here, I haven't seen her in person since our last lesson. We talk every day, but it's been a couple days since I've seen her. I need you to tell me what's goin' on." He felt an icy fist squeeze his heart and constrict it. In that moment he learned what true terror was.

"You know how Teddy had that affair with Peggy while we were married. Well, surprise, surprise apparently he managed to knock her up and he asked her to marry him. We ran into them tonight and Maddie saw Teddy's mother's engagement ring around Peggy's neck and she took off. I was just so sure that she would have run to you." She tried hard to keep from going to pieces.

"In other words she reacted like her name should have been Deacon Jr and now she's got you worried out of your mind. It's ok I promise you that we are gonna find her. Come on, I'll drive you. You're in no condition to drive yourself." He grabbed his jacket and his keys.

"No, Deacon, I'm begging stay here. I just have feeling that she's gonna need her daddy and she will find her way to you. I need you to be here when she shows up. I will be fine I have Tandy and daddy helping me look. I know that I'm asking you to sit on the sidelines once again, but I truly think she will show up here." She told him.

"Alright, I will stay here, but you call me as soon as you know somethin'. That's my little girl wanderin' 'round out there lost too. I don't care how small the news is I want to know 'bout it right away." He replied.

"Of course you will be the first call that I make as soon as I know something." She kissed his lips because she needed the comfort of his touch and because she needed him to know that she'd meant what she said she wanted him to be the first to know when their daughter was safe.

"Well, I'm startin' to think that this is the night that Cinderella ran away from the ball." Deacon opened his door a half hour later to find Maddie crying in her evening gown. He just pulled her into his arms tightly and held her for a minute.

"I hope you don't mind that I came here, but I had no where else to go." Her bottom lip trembled.

"Of course I don't mind this is your home too as far as I'm concerned and you are welcome anytime. Why don't I go get you a t-shirt and sweats so you can get out of that dress?" He suggested. He'd never been so relieved to see someone in his entire life.

"Yeah, I'd like that a lot." She nodded her head in agreement.

He went into his bedroom and came out with his favorite Johnny Cash t-shirt and a pair of sweats. "You can go on and change you know where everythin' is." While she was in the bathroom changing he made her a mug of hot chocolate.

He typed out a quick text. _Ray, I've got her, she's safe. Give me an hour and then come for her.-Deacon._

"I think it is a damn good thing that's the only one of my concert t-shirts your momma never ran off with because it looks perfect on you." He sat the hot chocolate down on the coffee and table and sat on the couch next to her.

"So, that's it? No big lecture? You're not gonna yell at me for running away?" She asked him.

Deacon pulled her into his lap and kissed the top of her head repeatedly just to assure himself that she was really ok. "Sweetheart I'm too damn relieved that you're ok to be mad at you, but runnin' off is never the answer. Whatever's chasin' you is just gonna catch up to you sooner or later the thing to do is face it head on. I learned that the hard way. You can't do that ever again, because quite frankly you scared the shit out of me. You're the single best part of my world I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I don't understand how he could just propose to her without taking into account how it would make me and Daphne feel. We are supposed to be everything to him, but he can't even be bothered to share his news with us before he asks the woman he cheated on my mother with to marry him." Maddie seethed.

He bit his lip to keep in his laughter and his smirk. He didn't know who she sounded more like at the moment him or Rayna. "Sweetie, sometimes adults are selfish and they only think of themselves first. I've been guilty of that more times than I care to admit, but I'm workin' on it. Because I never want to feel like you come in second best in my book. And I'm sure that Teddy didn't mean to hurt you girls."

"But it still did hurt." She cried into his chest.

He just held her and rocked her back and forth until she fell asleep in his arms. Every so often he would bend down and press a kiss to her head. Sometimes it was hard for him to believe that he'd had anything to do with making someone so perfect.

His front door creaked open a little while later. He'd left the door unlocked for Rayna so she wouldn't have to knock and wake Maddie up.

"How is she?" Rayna asked.

"Pissed, sad, upset, takin' it like a real Claybourne in other words." Deacon made a weak joke.

"Deacon, you know that I don't find that funny at all. So many bad things could have happened to her tonight." Rayna worried with her bottom lip.

"I know that and I told her that that is unacceptable behavior and it can't happen ever again. That if she feels like she can't take it anymore she is to call me and I will be her escape any time that she needs it." He replied.

"You're catching on to this daddy thing a lot quicker than I thought you would." She bent down and kissed her sleeping daughter.

"Imagine how much sooner I could have caught on if you'd had a little faith in me. I get her, Ray. And sometimes all she needs is someone else who understands the crazy thoughts that she has swimmin' 'round in her head. We're Claybourne's we are pure chaos and it takes a whole hell of a lot to tame us. But, I'm her daddy, Ray. I'm done bein' her daddy on everyone else's terms from now on I get a say too." He finally let go of some of the bitterness he'd been holding in.

"Ok, you're right, that's only fair. Now, do you think your princess can stay the night with you? Because if I have you carry her out to the car she's just gonna wake right up." She asked him.

"Of course she can. I'll get her off to school in the mornin'." He assured her.

"Thanks, babe," She kissed his forehead. "I'm so, so, sorry." That was the first time she had truly apologized for keeping Maddie from him.

* * *

"Ugh, I don't even want to go to this thing tonight. If it weren't for the fact that they asked me to invite Juliette to be inducted to the Opry I'd just skip it." Rayna bitched as she put her earrings in. She'd gone from sex with Deacon to getting ready for an Edgehill event.

"Will is gonna play tonight that's another reason you have to go. He's on your label and it wouldn't look right if his label head didn't show up." Deacon pointed out to her. He was lounged across her bed naked and he showed no signs of moving any time soon.

"Still, did it have to be a Luke Wheeler event? He was a nice enough guy when we were all comin' up in this business together, but there was something off about the way he just always hovered around me." She picked up her makeup brush and applied blush to her cheeks.

"Darlin', you're so sweet and naïve sometimes. He hovered around like that because he had the biggest crush on you in the world. One time I caught him makin' a comment 'bout you havin' a nice rack and a tight ass and I gave him a fat lip for it." There was just a hint of pride in his voice.

She stared at him a moment and let her thoughts wander.

" _Deacon, my answer is still no like it was the last time you asked me. I'm not letting you take him to St. Louis to catch the Cardinals game with you after what he did. He's sixteen now, not six he knows better than to go around getting into fights just because someone said something that he didn't like." Rayna argued with her husband as she sat at her vanity and took her makeup off._

" _Come on, Ray, we've had this planned for months. He didn't do anythin' more than any other boy his age has done over a girl no less. Hell, I'm sure if you were to ask him 'bout him and this other kid are cool now." Deacon defended._

" _It's not the fact that he's gettin' into fights, Deacon. It's the fact that these fights are landing him at the police station. I went through that particular brand of hell with his father I'm not interested in going through it with Deacon Jr too." She snipped at him._

" _That's what this is really 'bout you can't forgive him for bein' a little more like more than you care for. I'm not askin' you to let him go out and party for a weekend I'm askin' you to let him go spend a weekend watchin' baseball games with his daddy." He argued back._

" _And I know how much that means to you, but I'm lettin' you reward his bad behavior, I'm sorry babe. I never once said it was because he was anythin' like you all of the best parts that I love about that boy he got from you. I just wanna nip this thing in the bud before it becomes a problem we've always agreed to back each other up with him and keep our disputes to ourselves." She reminded him._

" _As long as it's what you're sayin' that gets followed to the letter. God forbid as his daddy I ever get to make a single decision. You cut me out of every decision when it came to Maddie and now you're tryin' to do the same damn thing when it comes to Cash. I ain't just gonna stand by and take it anymore. I'm the damn parent too. I told him months ago that we would spend this weekend together just the two of us and that is a promise I'm gonna keep whether you like it or not. Frankly right now I don't give a damn if you like it. That is my boy and my only chance at this and I only have two years left with him before he doesn't want any part of either of us. I don't intend to waste that by groundin' him for stupid shit when you and I did a hell of a lot worse at that age and turned out just fine." His voice got louder the more upset he got._

" _Is that really what you think? That I don't want you to make any of the parenting decisions? If that were the case I would have never told you about him, Deacon. I would have said he was the product of a one nightstand with Liam. And lord knows that wouldn't have worked he came out looking just like you. Are you ever gonna truly forgive me for keeping Maddie from you or are you gonna hold it over my head for the rest of our lives?" She yelled back at him._

 _He was spared from having to answer by a knock on the door. A sheepish looking teen shuffled into the room with his head bowed. He had Deacon's dark hair and his physical build. He was a natural born athlete in addition to being a world class guitar player. He looked down at the carpet for a few seconds longer before he looked up at his parents and spoke._

" _Momma, daddy, I'm really sorry that I disappointed ya'll tonight. I know that what I did was wrong, but it's like dad says sometimes a man just has to take a stand or get knocked on his ass all the time. I didn't mean for it to go as far as it did, but the guy pushed me first and I only defended myself. Daddy always promised me that as long as I wasn't goin' around bein' a bully I wouldn't get into any trouble for defendin' myself. That bein' said I guess I understand if you don't wanna let me go with him this weekend. There'll be other weekends that ya'll are home from tourin' that we will be able to catch a couple ball games together. I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry and I'm gonna go to bed now, cause I didn't mean to make ya'll fight over me." Cash really laid it on thick. He had a black eye and a cut across the bridge of his nose. He had even inherited Deacon's perfect five o'clock shadow. "Daddy, I know how much it meant to you to have a boys' weekend just the two of us and I'm sorry that I screwed that up for you." He called over his shoulder as he shuffled back towards the door._

 _Deacon just stared at Rayna hard in the mirror of her vanity they both knew that this was one fight she was going to lose, because he was going to do this with or without her permission. They also both knew it would take him a hell of a long time to forgive her if she made him break a promise to their son._

" _Cash, wait, baby boy." Rayna called out and he turned around to look at her. "It's come to my attention lately that maybe I'm harder on you than I should be and that you're a teenage boy who isn't always going to show the best judgment, but that doesn't mean I have to act like a prison warden every time that you screw up. And right now I don't think it would be fair of me to deny you and your daddy your father-son baseball weekend that you have been looking forward to for months. You have to be just as patient with me as I have to be with you, because I'm not always gonna get it right either."_

" _You mean it? I can still go with daddy?" Cash asked his blue eyes lighting up._

" _Yes, you can still go with your daddy. Punishing you by keeping you and your daddy away from each other wouldn't be right at all. This is all on one condition though." Rayna replied._

" _What's that?" Cash asked resigned to his fate. He was a hell of a lot easier to navigate through his teenage years than either of his sisters had been._

" _You come over here and give your momma some sugar and tell her that you forgive her for being the world's biggest bitch to you tonight." Rayna pointed at her cheek._

 _Cash walked over and kissed her cheek. "I love you, momma. I forgive you for bein' a bitch I know that daddy and I both have a tendency to bring it out in you."_

" _Your daddy even more than you, sweet boy." She took his hand and kissed his swollen knuckles. Deacon had been right they only had two more years of having him as their baby boy and they better enjoy every minute of it._

"Deacon, somehow it doesn't surprise me at all that you gave anyone a fat lip. Especially when it came to saying something about me." She shook her head at him once she came back from her thoughts of what could have been. "And did you plan on getting dressed before this thing starts?"

"You're my girl I have to defend your honor. And no one said anythin' 'bout me goin'. I wasn't invited as your date, so I assumed that I meant I got to lay in this bed naked and wait for you to get back." He gave her a lopsided grin.

"Of course you're invited as my date. Consider this your blanket invitation to be my date to all future industry things I have to go to, because you're the only one who can keep me sane and from killing Jeff. I don't regret for a minute goin' to daddy and askin' him for the money to buy my way out of Edgehill. It's gonna be so worth it to see the look on his face when I tell him to take his greatest hits album and stuff it where the sun don't shine." She ranted and raved.

"Ray, I was kiddin' my clothes are already hangin' in the closet. That was the first thing I did when I got here this afternoon was hang them up. I knew that you were gonna need me for this and I wasn't gonna let you down." He winked at her.

"I don't know what I would do without you sometimes." She replied.

"You just better hope that you never have to find out." He laughed.

"Seriously, though, shouldn't you be getting ready?" She asked him.

"You're the one it takes hours to get ready. I can get ready in fifteen minutes. Just go on and take your time babe." He was content to just lay and watch her go about her business anyway.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter, this seemed like a natural break without making it too long, but I promise you'll like the tweak I have in store for next chapter. Until next time please review.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 5

Deacon seethed silently at the side of the stage. He didn't know what kind of stunt Jeff Fordham was trying to pull by having Luke Wheeler put Rayna on the spot like that, but he had half a mind to knock his lights out. Instead of treating the artist who had built the label with the respect that she deserved he was bullying her around just for his own amusement it seemed.

No one else could see past the Queen of Country persona that she put on, but Deacon could see that she was absolutely terrified. Not only was this her first time singing in public since the accident she didn't have him as safety net. Jeff and Luke both be damned he wasn't going to let her go through this alone.

"Hey, can I get a live mic?" He asked a stagehand.

"Sure, here you go, Mr. Claybourne. It's on and it's ready to go." The stagehand replied.

Deacon stood watching as Luke played the opening chords to the song for her. He was gonna give her the one chance she needed to do this alone before he stepped in to help her.

" _I stood in the street in the pourin' rain didn't give a damn about anythin'. I said take me, oh lord just take me."_ She started off strong enough. _"Went back in the house picked up this guitar."_ Her voice started to give out here.

" _And somehow my fingers found their way to my heart."_ Deacon sang into the mic he'd requested as he joined her on stage and took her hand. He sent her a look that said 'you've got this, Ray'.

" _And it saved me, oh lord it saved me."_ She sang with Deacon before squeezing his hand to let him know she was ok to handle this next part alone. _"Well, I'm not proud of my mistakes, but thanks to you I've got so much to say."_

" _Cause the best songs come from broken hearts, from busted dreams and beat up guitars."_ Deacon sang this part with her just to make sure she was on firm ground.

" _It's times like these when I'm down on my knees it's true."_ She belted out and the whole crowd stood. _"Yeah, you gotta dig deep within the well of your soul to to find the will to sing the words that only you know 'bout goin' through hell and livin' to tell truth. Cause the best songs come from, yeah the best songs come from, the best songs come from, broken hearts. Yeah, broken hearts."_ She finished the song stronger than she ever had in the past. She may have sung the words alone, but she hadn't been alone she'd had Deacon's hand in hers the whole time.

"Now, that's what I call a comeback." Deacon whispered in her ear as they walked off the stage.

"Couldn't have done it without you, babe." Rayna leaned against him.

"You could have you just needed me there to remind you of what you've had inside you the whole time." He squeezed her hand.

"Well, isn't this cute. Look at the two of you all cozied up just like the good old days." Sarcasm oozed from every word that Jeff spoke.

"You know what, Jeff? You can take your greatest hits album and your label and shove it up your ass. I don't need you anymore I'm starting my own label." Rayna told him defiantly.

"All I need is twenty million dollars from you to buy the masters to your albums and our business together is concluded." Jeff replied.

"Oh you'll get your money don't you worry about it." Rayna assured him.

* * *

"So, do I get to know what's goin' through your head right now or are you gonna make me guess?" Deacon stood behind Rayna who was looking at herself in her floor to ceiling mirror.

"You don't want to know what I'm thinking right now, because none of it is favorable." Rayna scoffed. She had been so close to being away from Edgehill and then because of a federal investigation into her father they had frozen all of his accounts and now she had to find a way to come up with the money some other way.

"Nothin' that you think 'bout Lamar ever has been favorable. They've got nothin' on him, Ray. If they did he'd be in prison right now. This is a scare tactic they are just tryin' to get him to own up to things they have no proof he did. I know it doesn't help you out with his accounts bein' frozen, but we will find a way we always do." He locked eyes with her in the mirror. He was dressed in a dark suit with a open collared light blue shirt underneath it.

"I know that and you know that, it just couldn't have happened at a worse time." She replied. She was wearing a knee length white dress that was suitable for a polo match. She had her hair pulled up into a ponytail that was curled and she wore an oversized hat.

"Speakin' of people who aren't thrilled with things. I'm sure that your sister is 'bout to have a shit fit cause I'm taggin' along with ya'll to this thing today." He chuckled. Things weren't as tense between him and Tandy as they had once been, but they still weren't the best of friends either.

"I told her to suck it up and deal with it. Because believe it or not you'll have a much easier time talkin' to investors than I will. You've just got the personality like you're everyone's best friend. You can hold people captive for hours with your stories and I'm counting on that to make a difference today." She tilted her head and pecked his cheek.

"Just a couple of things. One, you know that I'm not really happy to be goin' to this thing and two you owe me hot dirty sex for it later." He grinned at her.

"I know that you're only going to help me out. You can have all the hot dirty sex your little heart desires later tonight after we go see your niece perform at the Bluebird." She bargained with him.

"That sounds like a deal to me." He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Deacon, you do know that at some point we are gonna have to stop hiding behind sex, right?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I know that. I'm just afraid that if we talk 'bout the really hard stuff that we're gonna lose each other for good and I don't wanna live without you." He answered.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but maybe if we can't do this on our own we should consider therapy." She suggested.

"Ray, can we please talk 'bout this later? We both know how I feel 'bout therapy. It was bad enough every time I had to go through it in rehab. They just pry and pull the scabs off old wounds and make me wanna go crazy." He begged her.

"Ok, we will table this discussion for later like we have been, but sooner or later we do have to talk about it." She relented. She knew when to push him and when not to. Even though he wasn't drinking anymore he still had one hell of a temper that she rather not contend with at the moment.

* * *

Luke approached Rayna with a huge smile on his face. "Well hey there, stranger, fancy runnin' into you here."

"Hey, Luke, it's good to see you again. We didn't really get a chance to talk the other night." Rayna replied.

"Things were just crazy the other night. I'm real sorry to hear, 'bout your daddy's troubles by the way." He laid on the southern boy charm.

"It's nothin' that won't blow over soon. If I know my daddy, he has his ways around everything." She chuckled. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Truthfully I have no idea. I know more about horses than I know about polo. My daddy was a groom. I guess these are just the kinda things you get invited to when you start livin' in a whole other tax bracket." He joked.

"I get a yearly invitation to this. One of the hazards of growing up in Belle Meade I suppose." She laughed politely at his lame joke. She sipped the last of the champagne that was in her glass and she was going to need far more to make it through this day. She'd heard the word no so many times now it was starting to sound like a hit song.

Luke drained his bourbon. "You know what? Looks like I'm empty too. How 'bout I go get the both of us a fresh drink and we can talk a little more?"

"Yeah, I'd like that a lot, thanks, Luke." She said even though she knew she should probably say no. There was no harm in her catching up with an old friend. She could use one of those while she had Deacon busy working his magic on the crowd.

Hell that was the only word that Deacon could use to describe this polo match. He could think of a thousand other things that he rather be doing at the moment and most of them involved his face being buried between Rayna's legs. Damn her she was right; they were hiding behind sex to keep from having to talk about the hard stuff. He'd lost track of the different ways they'd gone down on each other and had sex all over both their houses. She'd even surprised the hell out of him by giving him a blowjob while he was driving. He had to knock those thoughts out of his head quickly and get back to the task at hand or he wouldn't be getting the hot dirty sex that she had promised him.

So far he had struck out with every potential investor that he'd spoken to. No one wanted to be involved with Lamar Wyatt in any way even if it was just his daughter's business venture that had nothing to do with him. He hated letting Rayna down more than anything in the world, but like he'd said they'd find a way to make this work like they always did. They did their best work with their backs up against the wall fighting side by side together.

"You look like you wanna be anywhere, but here right now." A woman said as she slid up beside him.

"Megan, what are you doin' here?" He asked with a smile. She had been his lawyer during his custody dispute with Teddy over Maddie while Rayna had been in a coma.

"I got an invitation from a client and I couldn't very well so know no matter how badly I wanted to." Megan replied.

"I'm fairly sure that I got blackmailed into bein' here. I'm still not sure how it happened, but it happened. It is unreal the amount of power this woman wields over me sometimes." He shook his head at himself.

"I haven't met a man who wasn't a sucker for a pretty smile yet." She laughed with him.

"Well, since that's only the prettiest smile that I've ever seen in my life it's no wonder that I'm a lost cause." He found Rayna in the crowd and smiled inwardly. Maybe they were making more progress than they thought. Maybe the accident had been a good thing after all losing the baby just may have kept them from losing each other. Otherwise there was no telling how long he would have gone on not talking to her.

"You should see the smile on your face right now. No one could ever accuse you of not caring." She told him.

"Ya'll don't mind if I cut in here for a second do you?" Luke asked as he made his way over to them.

"Nope, I was just on my way back to my friends." Megan smiled politely at him.

"Freakin' Deacon Claybourne," Luke exclaimed.

"Ol' Luke No Hands on the Wheeler," Deacon returned the greeting in kind. "I didn't know they let former mullet wearin' riffraff like you into places like this."

"Says the king of the cutoff flannel shirt. I'll have you know that I got an invitation." Luke informed him.

"I got drug here against my will by the use some killer legs and a gorgeous smile." Deacon admitted.

"So, listen uh, man to man, is Rayna off limits?" Luke asked.

"If you gotta somethin' you wanna ask Rayna you'd be best to just ask her. I can't answer for her and if I did it's likely that she would twist my balls off. I don't speak for Rayna I never have and I never will. If you wanna know somethin' you just gotta ask her. I don't own her and God help me if I acted like I did." Deacon replied. He should have seen that one coming. Luke had been hanging out on the fringes for over twenty years trying to get his hooks into Rayna. As much as it killed him not to tell him to go to hell and leave his woman alone he didn't do that because she wasn't his property and he had no right to.

"I can take your point on that one. I'll just talk to the lady myself." Luke clapped him on the back and walked off.

"Would you like me to drink double for you?" Tandy walked up beside Deacon at the bar where he stood waiting on his sweet tea to be delivered.

"Things goin' that bad for you too?" Deacon asked.

"You could say that." She groused.

"Can I get a single barrel double bourbon for the lady please?" He requested from the bartender. He tipped the bartender once he had given him both drinks. "There you are." He handed Tandy's drink to her.

She took a sip of the whiskey and sighed appreciatively. "Now that is a bourbon. All your faults aside you do know how to appreciate good whiskey."

"That's the problem I appreciate it a little too much and that is why I don't drink anymore." He retorted.

"Fair enough," She elbowed him discreetly in the side and pointed with her eyes to where Luke stood shamelessly flirting with Rayna who seemed none the wiser. "Who the hell does that jackass think he is? The ink is barely dry on her divorce papers and she is still recovering from an accident? What makes him think that now is an appropriate time to be hitting on her?"

"He never could take the hint that she just wasn't interested in him. She always thought that they were friends and he always saw her as some big prize to be won. Because even back then when we were first starting out she was something special." A dreamy look came to his face as he spoke about her.

"How can he not see that she clearly doesn't like him that way?" She asked.

"It's not entirely his fault she's probably sending out signals that are meant to be friendly, but come across as flirty. Your baby sister is pretty naïve when it comes to men and their intentions. She's had two men in her entire life and she doesn't exactly know when someone is flirtin' with her. I mean good lord I basically had to teach the poor girl everythin' that she knows about sex. I let her set the pace and tell me when, where, and how it was ok to touch her. I always just wanted her to feel safe and know that I wasn't gonna rush her and she could say no anytime she wanted to." He said all of those things before he remembered who he was talking to. "Can we just forget that I said any of that?"

"No, I don't want to forget that you said any of that. You have no idea how much that just sent your tock up in my book. I can see in your eyes how much you love her, respect her, and just want her to be happy." The kind words sounded foreign even to her as they left her mouth.

Deacon looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "When did you and I become friends?"

"I don't know, but I don't know if I like this or not. You're supposed to be the jackass that hurt my baby sister not the guy I talk to about the jackass who is clearly trying to get in my baby sister's panties right now." Tandy wore a look of disgust on her face.

"Is this because we've seen each other cry?" He asked.

"That must be it. We never speak of it again and we go back to silently detesting each other. Agreed?" She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Agreed," He shook her hand firmly.

* * *

"I'm sorry today didn't go as well as you hoped it would, Ray." Deacon and Rayna stood in the back of the Bluebird. He had his arm wrapped around her waist.

"So am I, but it was worth a short. And like you said we will find a way we always do. I'm not too worried about it yet. I guess I could always mortgage the house or somethin' like that." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Why don't you hold off on that until you absolutely have to?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea." She agreed with him.

"She sure is somethin' special ain't she?" He smiled with pride up at Scarlett.

"She sure is. Now is only I can get her on as someone's opening act that would be wonderful." She groaned.

"Don't worry so much. Just enjoy this for now and worry about the rest as it comes." He advised her.

Deacon stayed inside to help Scarlett pack up her gear while Rayna walked out to the car to get it started and ready for when he came out.

"I'll tell you what that girl, sure is talented." Luke walked out of the shadows. He wasn't trying to be creepy or anything.

"Yeah, if you think that maybe you should sign her as your opener." She made a joke out of it.

"I'm inclined to do just that. I've been there once too we all have and we all just needed our one big shot." He replied.

"Seriously? You would really sign her as your opener?" She asked.

"Yeah, really, just have your people send my people the paperwork and it's a done deal." He assured her.

"Luke, thank you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me." She leaned up against the side of her car casually.

"Don't mention it I'm happy to help out an old friend." Before Rayna had enough time to react he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back. "Luke, I'm sorry, but I can't. It wouldn't be fair to lead you on and let you think that you have a shot."

"So, you're still Deacon's girl, huh?" He chuckled good naturedly.

"Of course I'm still Deacon's girl. If my divorce and that accident taught me one thing it's that life is too damn short to deny myself what really and truly makes me happy." She smiled as she watched Deacon through the window of the Bluebird.

"Well, I had to give it a shot at any rate. You had to know that I've had a thing for you for years. I can totally respect that you're off the market though. Whatever it is you have with Deacon is this deep endless thing that is all tangled up together and it's not somethin' I wanna get in the middle of." He teased her.

"There are days when I think that neither one of us wants to be in the middle of it either, but we stay mad for five minutes and come running right back to each other. He's more than just a boyfriend or a lover to me he's my best friend. Anytime anything good or bad happens he's the first person that I want to tell no matter what time of the day or night it is." She admitted to him. She also had to admit that maybe she'd been wrong earlier. Maybe she and Deacon weren't just hiding behind sex. It was quite possible that they were making love and using their bodies and to tell each other how they felt instead of using words.

"You're one of the lucky ones then. I thought I had that once, but I missed it by a mile. You and Deacon should come out to the ranch sometimes we can have a cookout and reminisce about the old days. When I didn't know what a razor was for and Deacon didn't own a shirt with sleeves on it." He grinned.

"Yeah, that could be fun for sure." Rayna agreed. At least he'd taken no for an answer gracefully.

"Aw, hell, Ray, I didn't mean to leave you out here alone for so long that you got cornered into talkin' to strange men out on the parkin' lot." Deacon joked as he came outside.

"It's alright I don't think this strange man will hurt me. He knows that I have this big vicious attack dog by the name of Deacon." She wrapped her arm around his waist.

"So, I will be seein' ya'll. Rayna, messenger those papers over to my place in the mornin' and we will get the ball rollin'." Luke called over his shoulder as he walked away.

"What was that about?" Deacon asked.

"Oh, he just agreed to let Scarlett be his opening act. So that is at least one good thing to happen today." She tossed him the car keys. "Come on and drive us back to my place I believe that you have a favor or two that you're gonna wanna cash in on."

"I ain't gonna argue with that, babe." He climbed behind the wheel of her SUV.

* * *

"What the hell is goin' on, Deacon? It's too damn early in the morning for this." Rayna came down the stairs in her robe in response to the loud knocking on her door the next morning.

"There's a bunch of feds here demandin' the masters to your album or they will hold in contempt of court and throw you in jail." Deacon gave her the Cliff notes version.

"Over my dead body, I'm the one who did all the hard work on this. I'll be damned if I just hand it over to Jeff Fordham to butcher as he pleases." She maintained stubbornly.

"Babe, please just calm down and do as they say for now. I have a call that I can make. I will only be gone an hour or so tops. I just need you to trust me ok?" He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips gently.

"Ok, fine, I'm trusting you. Don't be gone too long." She warned him.

"I promise I will make this as fast as I humanly can." He kissed one last time before he left. As soon as he was out the door he pulled out his cell phone. "Hey, it's me and I really need a huge favor. I'm hopin' that you can bail me out me more time. I'll owe you more for this one than I owe you for last time, but this time isn't for me it's for her and she can never know that we had this conversation or she will be livid." He spoke into his phone cryptically. He listened to what the person on the other end of the line had to say. "Great, I'll see you in fifteen." He hung up and got into his truck.

When he returned about an hour later Rayna sat at her counter with a smile on her face.

"Someone looks like she is in a much better mood than the one she was in when I left." He pecked her lips gently.

"I don't know what you did or how you did, but I am eternally grateful to you right now, babe. Jeff just called and said that we are square to forget everything. The masters and the album are mine." She reported happily.

"That's great, Ray. And despite what you wanna think I didn't do a damn thing. Sometimes there are things that talk louder than money. I just so happened to have a sure fire hit song layin' 'round that I wasn't gonna use. I traded that to Jeff to use for Luke in exchange for letting you keep your masters and your album." He told her a little white lie, but the less she knew about that the better off she was.

She kissed him again with tongue this time. "Thank you, I know how much you hate giving into bullies. You will never understand how much this means to me. I should have known that I'd be able to count on you just like I've always been able to."

He kissed her back with the same passion and intensity. "You're welcome. It was worth it just to see that smile on your face." It seemed like they were starting to turn a corner and truly work their way back to each other. Sure they still had to address the lie she told about Maddie, but he was confident that they could get through it.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you enjoyed it. I've screwed with the timeline a little bit to make it fit with my story line, but I promise it serves a purpose. I just thought it would be perfect for Deacon to help Rayna find her voice again rather than Luke. You have to wonder what kind of secret Deacon is hiding and what he really did to get Jeff to back off? That will be explored more in the coming chapters. Until next time please review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers. The songs used in this chapter are For You by James Otto and Tackle Box by Luke Bryan.

* * *

Chapter 6

Rayna headed out to Luke's ranch to finalize the paperwork for Scarlett to become his opening act. Deacon was busy doing something that he was being cryptic about and she didn't have the girls because Teddy was getting married today. She didn't feel like being alone, so she was glad to have the business to handle otherwise she would have lost her mind.

"This is a pleasant surprise. I expected you to just have a messenger send those papers over here. I didn't think you'd bring 'em by in person." Luke greeted her cheerfully.

"I'm nothin' if not a hands on label head and I wanted to take care of this myself to make sure it got done right. Besides that my ex is getting remarried today and I didn't really wanna be alone." She opened up to him more than she had intended to.

"I know how that is. I've been in the same boat my ex got half of everythin' and an investment banker. I got four hundred acres of the prettiest land in Tennessee. I would have thought this would have been somethin' that you would have had Deacon hold your hand through." He replied.

"Deacon is being Deacon and I'm not sure I want to know what he's up to right now. He says to just trust him right now. And I have too many other things on my plate to worry about what he's up to at the moment." She chuckled.

"Just watchin' you two gives me a headache. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be inside that relationship." He laughed. "I got somethin' that may make you feel a little better. Come with me."

He led her down to his shooting lanes. There were glass bottles lined up on fence posts and he produced a revolver and handed it to her. "Why don't you shoot those and imagine that it's your ex's face? I promise you that it'll make you feel a little better. Or Deacon's face if you prefer."

"Nah, Deacon is far from a problem right now." She handled the gun gingerly. "It's been so long since I've handled a gun. I think the last time I was a little girl and my grandpa handed me a gun."

"In that case I'm just gonna have to show you how it's done then." He stepped behind her and showed her how to grip the pistol correctly.

They spent a couple of hours shooting bottles before he invited her back up to the house.

"So, I've got beer up at the house if you want one. Just as friends of course. I got the message loud and clear."

"Sure, that would be nice." She followed him up to his house. They sat out on his back deck that offered a view of his sprawling property.

"Here you are." He handed her a beer and kept one for himself.

"So, I heard Deacon came through pretty big with a song for you." She just made conversation.

"He did come through with that song. It's definitely gonna be a hit with my fans." He agreed.

"He's pretty good like that." She didn't realize it, but a little pride seeped through her voice.

"He's always been one of the best in the business. He has more number one song awards than you and I combined and it's not somethin' that he brags about." He admitted.

"That's not Deacon's style. All he cares about is getting his music to the audience. He would have been content to play the Bluebird and small venues his whole career. I wanted the sold out stadiums and international tours. He did that for me and he never once complained about it. It's no secret that he's an alcoholic and he put me through hell on more than one occasion, but I think I put him through a little bit of hell too. I've just been so busy blaming him and being mad at him that I haven't taken the time to notice that." She sipped her beer. She wasn't wrong she had taken Deacon for granted a little bit and he'd always been there to catch her no matter what just like he had been the other night and with getting her masters released. But, the one time that he really needed her to stick and believe in him she had ran away like her life depended on it.

"I think you're the only one who ain't figured out by now that there ain't a thing that Deacon Claybourne wouldn't do for you. And whether you like it or not there ain't a thing that you wouldn't do for him either. Never made much sense to me why you walked away from him when he finally got clean, but I guess you never really and truly let him go did ya? If I'm just spoutin' off and makin' an ass out of myself you can tell me and I'll shut my damn mouth, but that's just how I see it." He took a long pull off of his beer.

"I'd love to tell you to shut the fuck up right now and we both know that I'm capable of it. You used to tour around with us in the old days. But, in this case you happen to be right. If I'd known the fifth time in rehab was gonna be the time that stuck I would've waited for him. I guess in a way I did wait for him I let him back in my band even though I was married to another man, but on that stage we still belonged to each other. No one could ever take that away from us." Maybe it was the alcohol loosening her tongue of maybe she was finally realizing some things that should have been apparent to her a long time ago.

"I'm gonna have to write that one down. The great Rayna Jaymes just said that I was right about somethin'. That don't happen very often. I think I'm gonna have a plaque made to commemorate the occasion." He joked.

"Luke, shut the fuck up." She told him, but there was no real fire behind her words.

"Now, there's the Rayna we all know and love." He gave a hearty laugh.

She went to reply, but her cell rang. "Hey, baby girl, what's up?" Maddie was on the other end of the line. "Of course I can come get you. You just hold tight and I will be right there. I love you, sweet girl."

"And you gotta go." Luke arched his eyebrow.

"Yep, a momma's work is never done. Thanks for the great day and keeping my mind off things. I really appreciate it." Rayna gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." He smiled at her.

* * *

"Now, do you wanna tell me why you had me come pick you up or are you just gonna sit in your room all night listening to that song on repeat?" Rayna sat down on the bed next to her daughter.

Maddie was listening to A Life That's Good over and over. "I just didn't feel like being there anymore mom. It doesn't feel like I fit in anymore. He's got Daphne, a new wife, and a new baby on the way. What does he need me for anymore?"

"Maddie, Teddy loves you. That is one thing in this world that I'm sure of." Rayna assured her.

"I know that, it just feels different now. I feel like I don't know who I am anymore." Maddie admitted.

"You know he wrote this song the night he met me?" Rayna asked her. She knew that she needed to know about where she came from and she and Deacon couldn't keep that from her anymore.

"He did?" Maddie's eyes lit up.

"Yeah he wrote it on a cocktail napkin at the Bluebird and he'd known me probably all of twenty minutes." Rayna smiled at the memory.

"Do you think Deacon will ever look at me the way dad looks at Daphne?" Maddie asked.

"Sweetheart, you don't realize it, but he already does." Rayna assured her. "He loves you so much he just doesn't want to make you uncomfortable. So, he's letting you set the pace. He's pretty great like that. If you want more out of him you've gotta let him know."

Maddie smiled as her phone lit up with a text. "Deacon is playing the Bluebird tonight and he wants us to come hear him play. Can we go? Please, mom?"

"Of course we can go. Come on let's get ready." Rayna got up off the bed.

" _You could call me anytime and I'd come runnin'. I'd go to hell and back to rescue you. I'd give up my soul and everythin' I own. If that's what you want I'd do that for you. Oh, but now you're askin' too much. You want me to find somebody new. Oh, I never thought I'd say this, but girl congratulations. You found the one thing I can't do for you."_ Deacon played a new song he'd just written. Like all his other songs it'd been inspired by Rayna.

" _You ask me for forgiveness girl you got it. If you don't love me what else can I do? If this really is the end you won't see my face again. If that's what you want I'll do that for you. Oh, but now you're askin' too much. You want me to find somebody new. Oh, I never thought I'd say this, but girl congratulations. You found the one thing I can't do for you."_

" _You'll have to think of somethin' else cause there's no way to turn it off. I'm sorry girl I can't fall out of love. Oh, I never thought I'd say this, but girl congratulations you found the one thing I can't do for you. You found the one thing I can't do for you."_ He'd felt like that was a message that Rayna needed to hear. No matter what lies she told him or how many ways she shattered his heart he would never not be in love with her.

"Wow, that was great." Maddie said when he joined them at their table.

"Thanks, it was just a little somethin' I've been toyin' round with." Deacon replied. "You're lookin' awful grown up and I just saw you a few days ago."

"I got rid of my glasses and got contacts." She told him.

Rayna just sat back and watched them interact.

"Well, don't go growin' up too fast. I just got here and I don't wanna miss anythin' else." Deacon teased her.

"I'll try not to." Maddie joked right back.

"I'll tell you what it's hard up there without my guitar I'm not real sure what to do with my hands." He made conversation with her.

"I'm the same way." Maddie chirped happily.

Rayna let out a small chuckle at that. "I better get you fed before I win the worst mother in the world award." She flagged down a waitress. "Can I get three root beers and an order of chicken fingers." She gave her order.

Deacon discreetly took her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze to let her know everything was going to be ok.

* * *

"What are ya'll doin' here? And what is this one doin' out of school?" Rayna ran into Deacon and Maddie in the lobby of the hotel she was staying in for the weekend to see Scarlett open for Luke.

"I couldn't miss my only niece's big debut and I thought this one could miss a day of school to see her cousin." Deacon smiled with his hands on Maddie's shoulders.

"I have to say that this is the best damn surprise I could have gotten." Rayna hugged them both.

"I'm glad that you're not mad, mom." Maddie told her.

"You and your daddy are spending time together and bonding I can't be mad about that." Rayna assured her.

"I thought I'd let her get a look at what the big show is all about. And Scarlett needed a guitarist for the weekend, so I'm gonna be doin' a little work." Deacon replied.

"Well, I was just getting ready to head out to get some food if ya'll wanna join." Rayna offered.

"I don't know about Maddie, but I have dinner plans with Scarlett before the show. Maddie can go with whoever she wants to go with that's up to her." Deacon answered.

"Well hey, Rayna, there are you. Do I need to call the restaurant and tell them to extend the reservation by two?" Luke came down into the lobby wearing his signature cowboy hat.

"Actually, mom, if you don't mind I'm just gonna go to dinner with Deacon and Scarlett." Maddie chimed in.

"That's perfectly fine. Ya'll have a good time together." Rayna smiled. "Thanks, for bringing her to visit." She addressed Deacon. She didn't want to let go of the secret of Maddie's paternity just yet.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." Deacon gave her a tight smile. A little bit of jealously burned behind his eyes seeing her with Luke, but he didn't say anything about it.

Rayna watched Deacon and Maddie together as Scarlett got ready to take the stage. She let her mind wander for just a moment.

 _Deacon stood stage side with his seven-year-old son standing in front of him. He rested his hands on the boy's shoulders with a proud smile on his face._

" _Look, Cash, your sister is getting ready to go on stage." Rayna pointed out Maddie to the little boy._

" _I see her, momma. I tried to talk her into lettin' me play guitar for her, but she said I still had some growin' to do 'fore I was big enough for that." Cash pouted. When he made that face he looked exactly like Deacon._

" _If it makes you feel any better momma made Maddie wait until she was sixteen to even think about gettin' up on the stage to perform and even then she had Daphne with her. You'll get there one day soon. Don't you go rushin' time by on me. I ain't ready to lose my best buddy just yet." Deacon spoke into his ear._

" _I'm always gonna be your best buddy no matter what, daddy. We'll be even better buddies when I can get up and play guitar with you." Cash told him sweetly._

" _I'll tell you what I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I got the best damn son any man could ever ask for." Deacon swiped at his misty eyes with his knuckles._

" _We did get pretty lucky with this one. That's why we can't have him growing up too fast." Rayna agreed. Her hear filled with love for her husband and her son. There were no two men she'd ever love as much as she loved them._

Rayna was brought out of her daydream by the boos of the crowd. Scarlett was having problems with her monitors and nothing was coming out right.

" _Ray, go do somethin' or I will. I told you that she couldn't handle this Wheeler crowd that they don't go for her brand of music."_ Deacon mouthed to her from the stage. There wasn't much he could do to help his niece at the moment.

" _I'm taking care of it, Deacon."_ Rayna grabbed a mic and headed out on the stage. She made it through the song with Scarlett and managed to save the day.

"I'm so sorry, Rayna. I know that you took a big chance on me and I let you down." Scarlett apologized later.

"Girl, don't you dare apologize to me. That happens to the best of us. I heard show us your boobs so many times when I was first starting out that you would have thought it was a damn hit song. You'll get 'em tomorrow night." Rayna reassured her.

* * *

"Well, that could have gone better." Luke commented. He and Rayna were holding a meeting in his hotel room after the show.

"We all have off nights, Luke. You know that as well as I do. We are pros and that could have happened to one of us just as easily as it happened to her." Rayna reminded him.

"I'm just sayin' that's not the best way to kick off a tour." He replied.

"Technical difficulties happen. We try to catch them in sound check, but that doesn't always work out." She reasoned with him. She didn't want him to rethink having Scarlett on his tour.

"Hell, I know that and I don't hold that against her. That girl is somethin' special and we all have off nights. I just know I'm gonna have a sound techs ass for this. These kind of mistakes shouldn't be happenin' on tours as big as this one." He ran his hand through his hair.

She wandered over to the window where she could here music coming from the poolside. "Luke, stop your blustering and come listen to this."

He listened to the song that Gunnar and Scarlett were singing together. "Well, I'll be damned if that doesn't sound like a hit song to me." He grinned.

"That sounds like a damn good duet." She corrected.

"Hey, Gunnar! Come here!" Luke called through the open window.

"Deacon, you need to get to Luke's room now and don't ask any questions. This is gonna be one of those nights." Rayna called Deacon and hung up before he had a chance to argue with her.

"Scarlett, do you want me to go on with you tonight just in case?" Rayna asked before the show the next night.

"No, I have to do this on my own. I've got this." Scarlett assured her.

"Your monitors are working right and you can hear everything?" Rayna double checked.

"Yeah, everythin' is fine. I can do this." Scarlett promised one last time before she took the stage.

Tonight her set went off without a hitch.

"Looks like you counted her out a little too soon doesn't it, Jeff?" Rayna couldn't resist getting a dig in at her former boss.

"Girls, like that are a dime a dozen. I'm sure another one will come along shortly." Jeff shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, Luke," Rayna turned her attention away from Jeff.

"What can I do for you?" Luke asked.

"You know that new song we just worked on last night?" She asked him.

"I know that one." Luke nodded his head.

"What if we had Deacon play guitar? I mean he is the one who helped us work it out last night." She suggested.

"That would be perfect." Luke grinned at her.

* * *

" _It was two shades of brown scratched up plastic. Held extra line, lures, hooks, and matches. His last name engraved in brass right there by the handle on the top. I'd slide it outta of the back of his station wagon. Lug it down the bank with my arm draggin' and I could hardly wait for him to lift the lid on that tackle box."_ Luke played the song that Deacon had sold to Edgehill.

"You gave them that song?" Rayna asked with sympathetic eyes. She was one of the only people who knew what that song truly meant to him.

"It's just a song, Ray. It was what you needed to get him off your back about that album and there's nothin' I won't do for you." Deacon replied.

" _Cause I'd sail with him across the south pacific stand beside him on the bow of that battleship. See him kiss the ground and thank the good Lord Jesus and watch him run to grandma cryin' on the docks. He'd open up every time he opened that old tackle box."_

"You'll never know how much that means to me." She walked over and rubbed his back. "Get one of your guitars ready. You're playin' this song with us."

" _He'd bait my hook and keep on tellin' stories bout nickel cokes girls and sandlot glories. Pickup trucks and peanut fields long before this town knew blacktop."_

He took a solid black Gibson electric guitar out of a case. "I'm ready to go."

"Deacon, where's the Gibson that I bought you?" She asked. He never went anywhere without it.

"I just didn't bring it on this trip. I didn't think I'd need it." He replied casually.

" _I was almost ridin' with him shotgun down those dirt roads. Takin' turns on a jug of homemade shine as he raced his buddies down through Mason holler. Fillin' the sky with dust and kicked up rocks. He opened up every time he opened up that old tackle box."_

"I call bullshit, Deacon. You've taken that guitar with you everywhere since I gave it to you." She challenged him.

"It's nothin' to worry 'bout, Ray. It's at home safe and sound." He assured her.

"Then use your Fender I think it'll sound better." She told him.

"Left that at home too." He shrugged.

" _He's been gone twenty years tomorrow and I'm still holdin' to this one wish that god above can let me borrow grandpa for one more afternoon and one more fish. And I'd sail with him across the south pacific stand beside him on the bow of that battleship. See him kiss the ground and thank the good lord Jesus and watch him run to grandma cryin' on the docks. He'd open every time he opened up that old tackle box. Yeah I sure loved every time he opened up that old tackle box. It was two shades of brown scratched up plastic."_

"Then use your Les Paul." She requested.

"That's at home too, Ray. I just brought the basics with me." He told her.

"What about your Martin?" She asked.

"My Martin wouldn't work for this song so it's at home." He was lying through his teeth and they both knew it.

"Alright, I guess we'll just have to settle for this Gibson then." She put a tight smile on her face.

"Now, for this next song I've got some real good friends of mine here to help me out. Please welcome to the stage Ms. Rayna Jaymes." Luke announced and the crowd cheered as she walked out and waved to them. "And Freakin' Deacon Claybourne."

"I don't know, Luke, do you think that they can handle this song?" Rayna asked playfully.

"I think that they can handle it." Luke agreed. "What do you think, Freakin' Deacon?"

"I say let's do it." Deacon chimed in.

"It's called Ball and Chain, should we do it?" Rayna asked.

"Hell yeah," Luke whooped. "Hit it, Deacon."

Deacon played the opening lick of the song.

" _I get along without you baby if I only could. There ain't a thing about you baby that does me any good. But still you try to keep me here. Well, is that just your pride? Everyday with you is like a rollercoaster ride."_ Rayna opened up the song.

" _It's so complicated it's drivin' me insane. It's just a ball and chain. Just a ball and chain."_ The three sang together.

" _Listen here. Ain't no doubt about it baby you push me away. Every time I turn my back you're beggin' me to stay. Then you me hangin' on. I don't know where you're at. If I knew you were really gone well I could handle that."_ Luke took the next verse. He strummed his acoustic guitar as he sang.

" _It's so complicated it's drivin' me insane. It's just a ball and chain. Just a ball and chain."_ The trio sang again.

" _I've tried all the things I could to get me off the hook. But still I keep on fallin' for every trick in the book."_ Luke and Rayna shared a mic as they sang that line.

" _Yeah all those little games you play babe used to be fun. Baby we were flyin' higher close to the sun."_ Rayna pressed up against Deacon's side and held the mic so they could share it. _"But you're tearin' me apart no all the good is gone. There's a shadow hangin' over us what was right is wrong."_ It was kinda fitting that those two shared that verse together. They had torn each other so many times that it wasn't funny.

" _It's so complicated it's drivin' me insane it's just a ball and chain. Just a ball and chain. Just a ball and chain. Just a ball and chain. Just a ball and chain."_ They all finished the song together.

"Now that, that is a hit song." Jeff said as Rayna and Deacon stepped off the stage.

"That did sound like a hit song to me. I'm sure that song is gonna make you a lot of money. So, you're gonna release my back catalog to me in exchange for it. You will also be paying Deacon and I royalties for that song. Along with the song that his song that Luke played earlier. You will also see to it that he gets the song writing credit for it." Rayna let her Wyatt side come out to play.

"I think that sounds like a fair deal to me and I think that concludes our business together." Jeff replied.

"Not so fast, Jeff, I want it in writing. And I also want it stipulated that Scarlett O'Connor and Will Lexington are Highway Sixty-five artists and as such you have no claim to any revenue they generate or any of their songs." Rayna added.

"Consider it done. I will have the contract drawn up and sent over to you in the morning." Jeff held his hand out for her to shake.

Rayna took his hand and shook it. "Jeff, just so we are clear if you try to screw me on this deal you won't like what happens at all." She said through a fake smile.

"Message heard loud and clear." Jeff smirked.

By the time she'd finished talking to Jeff Luke had come off the stage and he was talking to Deacon and Maddie.

"Mom, you were so amazing." Maddie smiled brighter than she had in awhile.

"Sweetie, stay here with Uncle Deacon and Luke. I need to go call Uncle Bucky really quick. I'll be right back." Rayna kissed her daughter's head. She didn't miss the flash of hurt in Deacon's eyes when she referred to him as Uncle Deacon.

"Well, what do you say, Maddie? You wanna show ol' Wheels Up how to really play guitar?" Deacon asked with a teasing smile.

"Can we do Free Bird?" Maddie asked in reply.

"As if we would use any other song to show him up." Deacon laughed.

"Maddie, you best watch out. This guitar teacher of yours is gonna get you in trouble." Luke laughed.

"I don't need his help. I can get into trouble just fine on my own." Maddie smirked. She was the spitting image of her father when she did that.

"In that case take it away." Luke handed her a guitar.

Rayna pulled out her cell and dialed Bucky's number. "Buck, I need you to call Watty for me. I think Deacon did a damn fool thing and he's about the only person that can get him out of it. Just say Gibson, Les Paul, Fender, and Martin. Watty will know what that means. Thanks, Buck, I owe you one. Get back to me as soon as you can. And yes even I am aware that a Les Paul is a Gibson, but I'm talking about two different guitars." She hung up the phone without waiting for a reply.

* * *

Deacon got up and opened the door to his hotel room as quickly as he could to make the pounding stop. Maddie was sleeping in Rayna's room with her tonight so at least he didn't have to worry about the noise waking her up. He opened the door to find Rayna standing there with a very pissed off look on her face. "Come on in and tell me what it is I've done to piss you off this time."

"You didn't just sell a song to Edgehill to get my masters for that album. You sold your Fender, your Gibson, your Les Paul, and the Martin that your grandfather gave you to get that money. That's what has me so pissed off. When you were drinking I insured all of your guitars just in case you ever did something stupid like smash them in a fit of rage. So, I still have the serial numbers. You lied to me about it, Deacon. We don't lie to each other." She poked her finger into his chest.

"Hey, you're the last person who gets to talk about someone in this relationship lyin' 'bout somethin'. You don't get the high horse on that one anymore. I did what I had to do for you. Just like everythin' else I've done since the minute that I met you. You were miserable and Jeff was just gonna make things worse. So, yeah I parted with some guitars that meant a lot to me just to see you happy and to see that smile on your face. I damn sure won't apologize for that." He crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

She took the veiled comment he'd made about her lying to him about Maddie in stride. She deserved it and she wasn't going to argue with him over it. "You know what this means don't you?"

"No, what does it mean?" He asked with a sigh.

"It means that from this point forward you and I are equal partners in Highway Sixty-five whether you like it or not. Welcome to the record business, Deacon. You don't get a damn say in the matter either." She shut and locked the door behind her before she pounced on him.

They were both naked in a flash and he was pushing his hard dick inside her soaking wet pussy before either of them knew what was happening. He pushed her knees up to her chest and drilled into her so hard that the headboard banged against the wall as they fucked. They both came quickly panting heavily.

"What if I don't wanna be in the record business?" He asked as she laid her head on his chest.

"That's just too damn bad. You should have thought about that before you sold your guitars to fund this label. Don't worry we will find just the right spot for you." She bit his nipple gently and smirked up at him.

"You left our thirteen-year-old daughter alone you better not be tryin' to go for round two." He warned her.

"I left our daughter with her very responsible cousin. You and I have all night." She climbed on top of him and slipped his already hard member back inside her as she began to ride him.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Like I said I'm veering off course a little bit from the story line that was established in season two, but I'm using some of it as a guideline. Don't worry there's still some pretty big twists and turns coming up. Until next time please review.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 7

Deacon let himself into Rayna's hotel suite using the key card she had given him before she had slipped out of his room early that morning. "Good mornin', ladies." He greeted the two women in his life.

Maddie sat in bed eating a huge stage of pancakes and Rayna was sitting in an armchair going over paperwork.

"Morning, Deacon." Maddie returned the greeting after she had swallowed.

"Hey, Deacon." Rayna said in passing before turning her attention back to whatever it was she'd been reading.

"What are you studying so carefully?" He asked.

"Jeff had a contract sent over and I'm making sure that he stuck to his guns and did what he said he was going to do. I've read over it three times and I don't see a problem with it. I faxed a copy to my lawyers just to be sure, but I think that we are in the clear." Rayna replied.

"Then how 'bout you put that down and get some food in you?" He suggested.

"Yeah that sounds good. Here you can look it over now too, partner." Rayna handed him the document and headed for the room service cart. "I went ahead and ordered for you. I know what you like."

"Thanks, but we both know that you're better off lettin' your lawyers handle this than askin' me a damn thing 'bout it." He put the contract down.

"That's the amended contract you need to sign it too for it to be viable. I wasn't playing around with you when I told you that we are equal partners. I had Jeff put the contract in both our names." She retorted.

"And when the lawyers get done lookin' at it and give it the all clear I'll sign it. Until then it just reads like a bunch of gibberish to me." He argued.

"Maddie, put your headphones in. I'm about to fight with your father and I don't want you to hear it." Rayna ordered her daughter.

"Ray, just calm down no one is fightin' here. Especially not in front of her with the way we fight. We are gonna do this as partners like we have our whole career. I just wanna make sure that we aren't gettin' screwed before I sign anythin'. I still don't feel entirely comfortable takin' half of this from you. This is somethin' that you have worked so hard for." He ran his hand over his beard agitatedly.

"You should have thought about that before you sold off your guitars to not only buy my masters, but to put seed money into the label." She made his plate for him out of habit.

"I did think long and hard 'bout that. And I told you it was worth it just to see the smile on your face when you told Jeff to go get fucked." He replied.

"Deacon, language," Rayna pointed with her eyes to Maddie.

"Sorry, it slips out sometimes I can't help it." Deacon apologized sheepishly.

"Ok, here is what we are gonna do. You two are gonna finish up breakfast and head back to Nashville. I'm gonna stay behind and do some promotional stuff with Luke for this song. Deacon, I need you to turn around and come right back as soon as you drop Maddie off, because this is your song too." Rayna laid down the law.

"Or how about this? We ask ol' Wheels Up if we can't borrow his private jet to fly this one home. Tandy or Teddy can pick her up at the airport and I can stay behind too." He suggested.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. Just let me give Luke a call I'm sure he won't have a problem with that." Rayna smiled at him.

* * *

After they got Maddie squared away and on Luke's plane headed back to Nashville Rayna and Deacon sat around in her hotel room. They had checked him out of his room. It didn't make any sense for them to have two rooms if they were just going to end up in bed together anyway.

"So, partner, now that we don't have prying ears in the room we can talk about what your role with the label is gonna be." Rayna broached the subject.

"I'm perfectly ok with bein' a silent partner." Deacon replied.

"Yeah, that's not gonna fly. Either you pick a job or I pick for you." She laid down the law.

"I'll take talent scout or head of A and R or artist liaison whatever you wanna call me that keeps me involved, but as far out of the limelight as possible." He came to a compromise that he liked.

"That could work very well. I could be the brains and you could be the charm and part of the talent. My first official act as your partner is signing you as one of our acts." She told him in a way that left no room for argument.

"That gives us a grand total of what three or four? Scarlett, Will, me, and you? Are you and I doin' our own thing or are we joinin' forces again?" He questioned.

"Hmm, that is a very good question and one that we can decide later." She crawled into his lap and pulled his glasses off of him. She began peppering hot kisses along his jawline.

"And just what do you think you're doin'?" He grinned.

"I'm seducing my partner. Let me know when it's working." She replied her voice barely above a whisper.

"From where you're sittin' right now I'm pretty sure you can tell how well that's workin' out for you." He could feel his erection growing harder against her by the second. It screamed to be let loose from it's denim confines.

"Mmm, I do feel that and it feels pretty damn good." She reached her hand between them and gave his bulge a squeeze.

He moaned deep in his chest. After all these years she still knew just what to do to get to him.

"Well, I'm just gonna have to somethin' bout that. I can't have you goin' off to do this promo stuff with a tent in your jeans. I don't want any other woman gettin' any ideas about havin' her way with what's mine." Her southern accent got much more pronounced when she was trying to be sexy with him. She pulled his shirt over his head and kissed her way down his chest.

She undid his belt and pulled it out of the loops before throwing it across the room. She popped the button on his jeans and unzipped them slowly. She could already feel the heat radiating off of his pulsing hard cock.

He lifted his hips to help her get his jeans and boxers off. His heart thumped a bass line inside of his chest and his breath quickened in anticipation.

She took his throbbing dick into her hand and stroked it teasingly. She could feel every vein and ridge in his shaft. She kissed the head before flicking her tongue out a licking away a drop of pre come that had formed. "Mmm, baby, you still taste so good." She looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

"You're killin' me here, babe." His voice came out as a whine.

"Just be patient and I promise that this will be worth your while." She took the head into her mouth and sucked on it hard. She moved down the rest of his lengthy shaft licking and slurping until her nose was touching his pubic bone. She worked her throat muscles over him expertly making him writhe and groan out in ecstasy.

He tangled his fingers up in her long tresses and pulled just hard enough to cause her a little discomfort. "Fuck!" his curse was torn between pain and pleasure as she raked her teeth over the sensitive skin of his dick.

She sucked him until she felt that he was close to the edge and then she pulled off of him with an audible pop.

"No, no, baby. What are you doin'?" He was confused and just a little pissed that she hadn't let him finish.

"Normally I don't mind swallowin' your come one little bit, but today I have somewhere else I rather it go." She slowly stripped out of her clothes putting on a show for him to bring him back from the brink.

First she took her shirt off and tossed it to the floor. Next she took her time pulling her jeans down her long toned legs before she kicked them off.

Deacon watched his eyes glued to her every movement he didn't want to miss one second of this.

She reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. She removed it and dangled it from one finger before it too hit the floor. The last thing to go were her panties. She turned her back to him and pulled them down giving him a fantastic view of her perfect heart shaped ass. She went over to the bed and lay down on her back with her legs spread.

She ran one of her hands between her legs and stopped briefly to tease her clit with the tips of her fingers. She slipped two fingers inside her soaking wet pussy before she brought them up to her mouth and sucked on them. "Freakin' Deacon, you better get over here and do your job before I take care of myself without you." She ran her red tongue across her perfect lips.

It was a little known fact, but she had been the one to give him the nickname Freakin' Deacon because of the way he fucked. It had nothing to do with his guitar playing. The nickname had stuck when one of the band members had overheard her refer to him as that at practice one day. She'd had to lie quickly and say that it was because of the way he played guitar.

He didn't need a second invitation. He was on top of her in a flash. He pushed his impressive sized cock into her to the hilt quickly. He bit his lip when he heard her moan out in both pain and pleasure. They both knew that what they were doing today wasn't making love it wasn't even screwing the only the thing it could be classified as was hate sex. She was mad a him for selling his guitars to help her. And he was pissed that she was forcing him to be her partner in Highway 65. He would never intentionally seriously hurt her, but he knew what her boundaries were and how much she could take.

She drug her nails down his back leaving long angry scratches in their wake. Two could play at this game. She smirked when she heard him cuss. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of making her moan when he started to grind against her clit without actually thrusting. She knew this was because he was letting her get use to the length and girth of his monster cock. He was by far the most well endowed partner she'd ever had not that she had much to compare him to. She'd only ever been with him and Teddy, but boy could she tell the difference. Deacon filled her in ways that Teddy could never dream of. Thinking about it now part of the reason her marriage had failed was because she spent entirely too much time comparing Teddy to Deacon and even though Teddy was the sober dependable one he never measured up.

When he was sure that she was as comfortable as she was going to get he started thrusting into her as hard as he could. He knew that she could take it and what's more he knew that she loved it when he got a little rough with her. He bit down hard on the junction of her neck and her collarbone in hope's of leaving his mark there. Once he was satisfied that his work there was done he smirked down at her. He knew how bad she hated it when he left hickeys on her.

She grabbed the back of his hair and pulled as hard as she could exposing his neck to her. She bit and sucked until she left a huge purple hickey right in a spot that would be damn near impossible for him to cover up using just the collar of his shirt. She moved her hips in time with his keeping pace with his every thrust.

He nibbled on her earlobe and whispered huskily. "That's it, baby, fuck that hot little pussy on my cock. You know how much I love it when you show me how much you want me." He moaned loudly when she purposely clamped her inner walls down around his dick as hard as she could making it damn near impossible for him to thrust. He reached between them and skated the pad of his thumb over her clit. He knew her well enough to know that she was just as close to the edge of orgasm as he was.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and shoved her tongue into his mouth. She bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood and then she kissed it away.

He stared deep into her eyes as the rocking motion of his hips and his thumb continued to bring them both closer to the edge. "Let go, baby, I'm right here. Come for me. I want you to come hard and I'll be right behind you." He murmured against her lips, but there was no mistaking the commanding tone in his voice.

She didn't need to be told twice. Her climax raced through her body like a freight train leaving the station. She was only vaguely aware of when he let go and started to shoot his load into her.

They both lay in the middle of the bed a hot, panting, sweaty mess for a few moments before either of them could form words.

Rayna reached over and slapped his chest playfully. "You left a hickey on me you, asshole. Now I'm gonna have to get makeup to cover that up before this photo shoot." There was no real heat behind her words though.

"You left a hickey on me too that I'm damn sure gonna have to get makeup to cover, because there ain't no damn way my shirt collar is gonna hide it." Deacon smacked her ass playfully.

"Speaking of that photo shoot I need to go shower before we are both late." She leaned over and pecked his lips before walking naked into the bathroom.

He waited until he heard the water start running in the shower to make his move. He got up off the bed and followed her into the bathroom. He climbed into the shower behind her without giving it a second thought.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?" She turned to glare at him as she felt his still hard cock poking into her back.

He put one of his feet between hers to spread her legs and bent her over slightly. "That out there was hate sex. I figured that we needed a little makeup sex too." The head of his dick was already at her entrance before she could say anything or make a move to stop him not that she would have if she could.

Instead she pushed back on him taking his entire length into her again with a loud moan. She put her hands on the shower wall to keep her balance and rocked her hips back and forth against him. He reached around to play with her nipples while she reached down to rub her clit. This time it didn't take them more than five minutes before they reached climax together. Afterwards they took turns washing each other lovingly making sure not to miss a single spot. That of course led to her sucking him off one more time and to him down on his knees licking her clit until she exploded against his tongue.

By some miracle they managed to make it to the photo shoot in time.

"With you two I ain't even gonna ask." Luke shook his head both amusedly and knowingly.

"Then you're smarter than you look, Wheeler." Deacon laughed and clapped him on his back.

Luke took one look at him and saw the huge purple hickey on his neck. "God's sake, Deacon. Have someone in makeup do somethin' bout that damn thing on your neck. It looks like you got skin cancer. You must've pissed her off real good. From what I remember from the good ol' days you two always did look like that after you had a big round."

"I know. I'm already on it, Luke." Deacon assured him.

* * *

"Damn it, son of a bitch." Rayna cussed as she tried to get her jeans to button and they just wouldn't cooperate. She didn't understand it she had just wore them the week before and they had fit her perfectly. She was in a dressing room. She was living up to her part of the agreement to help promote Ball and Chain. She had met Luke at his tour stop in Charleston just to preform the song with him.

Deacon couldn't make it because he had a show to play at the Bluebird that he couldn't back out of.

She gave up on that pair of jeans and grabbed another off the wardrobe rack and she had the same problem with getting them buttoned as she had with the first. "What the fuck?" She was hit with a pang of grief once again. She could understand if this were happening because she were still pregnant, but she'd lost that baby and there was no other reason she could think of that her jeans wouldn't be fitting her right. Unless of course she was getting ready to start her period which was a real possibility and that only made her sadder.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she again thought about the baby she had lost. Things between her and Deacon seemed to be getting better everyday and even though he didn't say the words she knew that he had forgiven her and now he was just making her suffer for a little bit longer. Running Highway 65 together was one of the best things that could have happened for them. It forced them to interact everyday and do more than just have sex or talk about Maddie. Sure they still hadn't addressed her lie, but they would get to that in time.

It had only been a couple of weeks and already he'd proven himself to be a very adept talent scout. He'd found three acts that they were currently courting and hoping to sign to the label. He also wasn't a bad acting head of A and R. Between him and Bucky they were doing one hell of a job of promoting both Will and Scarlett. It helped that they were both on big name national tours. Will with Juliette and Scarlett with Luke.

Finally, after the third pair of jeans she couldn't get into she grabbed a pair off of the rack that was reserved for Deacon's clothes. This pair she got into without a problem. He was tall, but so was she any excess length in the legs would be taken care of by her boots. This was far from the first time she had had to repurpose his clothing for her own use. Back in the days when they were just starting out and broke she used to take his clothes all the time and add rhinestones and jewels to them to make them more feminine. Tonight it didn't make much of a difference though. No one would really be paying attention to what she was wearing on her lower half.

She wore a gauzy low cut white peasant shirt with laces on it. It showed off her more than ample cleavage. Speaking of her cleavage her boobs were kind of sensitive and her nipples were sore another sure sign that she was getting ready to start her period. It was a miracle with all the unprotected sex that she and Deacon had been having lately that she hadn't ended up pregnant again. Maybe that was something that just wasn't meant to be. Maybe they'd had their shot and missed it by a mile and now they would just have to settle for finishing raising Maddie together.

"Hey, pretty lady, it's 'bout show time. You ready for a change?" Luke stuck his head into her dressing room after knocking on the door.

"Yeah, I'm all ready to go for when you need me." Rayna wiped the tears from her eyes and plastered her best fake smile on her face.

"Rayna, what's wrong?" He could tell just from the way she was acting that something wasn't right and he hadn't missed the tears in her eyes.

"It's nothing, Luke, I'm fine. I'll be good to go on I promise." She swore to him.

"I ain't worried 'bout all that. You're the consummate professional I know you'll be ready to go on. Right now I'm worried, 'bout my friend." He replied.

"Like I said I'm fine." She snapped at him without meaning to.

"I've seen you fine and while I'll agree that you are lookin' mighty fine tonight you're definitely not feelin' fine." He didn't back down. "I gotta some time to talk 'fore I have to go on if you need a friend." He offered.

"In that case have a seat. It might be good for me to talk to someone other than Deacon or Tandy about this anyway." She finally gave in.

They both sat down on the couch that was in the dressing room.

"So, what's up?" He asked. He took his cowboy hat off and placed it on the coffee table.

"As you may have guessed before the accident Deacon and I were back together. The morning of the accident I found out that I was pregnant. I'd suspected it for a few weeks anyway and the blood test only confirmed what I'd known all along. As it turns out when we were hit by that drunk driver I lost the baby." She told him. She still held back about Maddie being Deacon's daughter. That was their truth to tell when they were ready for the world to know. She didn't just get to go around telling whoever she felt like after she'd kept it a secret from them for all those years.

"Oh, Rayna, I'm sorry." He told her sympathetically.

"Tonight I'm wearing Deacon's jeans because none of mine would button and I know it's because it's getting ready to be that time of the month and it brought that grief back to the surface because my body should be getting ready to have a baby not getting ready for my monthly visitor." She explained. "Sorry, if that was more than you wanted to hear." She gave a small chuckle.

"Don't you be sorry you go on and say whatever the hell you need to say to feel better. I know how you feel after Sage was born Steph lost a baby and I was out on the road and that's part of what led to the end of our marriage." He pulled her into a friendly hug.

"Luke Wheeler, don't you dare make me cry right now. I just had my makeup done and I don't wanna mess it up." She tried to lighten the mood.

"Screw your makeup they can redo it. You go on and cry if you need to." He told her bluntly.

"I don't want cry. The thing is that I feel horrible that I can't just get over this. I have two perfect girls and I should be thankful for that rather than still mourning over a baby that was barely there." She replied.

"What about Deacon? What has he said about all of this?" He asked to satisfy her curiosity.

"He was so excited about the baby. This was his shot you know? He thought he'd lost his chance at a family as punishment for being an alcoholic. He's been my rock through this though even though I know he's hurting just as bad as I am if not worse. Like I said I have those two beautiful girls. I'm already a momma. He doesn't have anyone to call him daddy." She wasn't telling him a complete lie. Maddie didn't call him dad she called him by his first name. She wiped a few stray tears away.

"I'd understand if you didn't feel like goin' on tonight. I could make an excuse for you with Jeff and he could like it or not for all I care. How are you doin' physically with everythin'?" Luke seemed genuinely concerned for her.

"No, I need to go on tonight and do some work get back to normal it'll be good for me. So far so good. I have a checkup with my OBGYN tomorrow and I'll know more after that, but they didn't anticipate any complications since I wasn't that far along." Rayna informed him.

"Alright, you get that makeup fixed up and I will let you know when it's time to go on." Luke patted her on the knee and collected his hat.

* * *

After the show was over and he'd seen Rayna off at the airport Luke pulled out his cell and called Deacon. "Freakin' Deacon, I hope I didn't wake you, but I think there's somethin' that you need to know."

"Nah, you didn't wake me, Wheels Up, I'm a recoverin addict. I have horrible insomnia. What's goin' on?" Deacon asked on the other end of the line.

"Rayna was really upset tonight and she told me about the baby. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry as hell and I know your pain. She was still pretty upset when I put her on the plane and I figured if anyone could cheer her up it'd be you." Luke told him.

"Thanks, Luke, I appreciate that. And I appreciate you listenin' to her. I know she's had a real hard time openin' up 'bout it even with me. Don't worry I'll make sure that she is well taken care of. Thanks for callin'." Deacon replied.

"It's not problem at all I was happy to listen. That's what friends are for and you two are some of my oldest friends. I'll let you go now. Just let me know if ya'll feel up to makin' that Chattanooga appearance in a few days. If not I'll totally understand and cover for ya'll. You both just heal up and take all the time you need." Luke spoke to him warmly.

"Yeah, I'll let you know and again thanks for the call, Wheels Up. You really are a true friend." Deacon cleared his throat to hide the fact that he'd gotten choked up.

"Anytime, Freakin' Deacon, you just take care of our girl. You know better than anyone that she's not as strong as she'd have everyone believe." Luke said before he hung up the phone.

* * *

"Ray, when are you gonna tell me what we are doin' here?" Deacon bitched the next day. They were standing in the office space that they had purchased to be the Highway 65 offices. It was under the process of being renovated and right now it was little more than drywall and studs. She'd been avoiding the topic of how her doctor's appointment had gone all afternoon. She refused to say a word about it no matter what he did or said to try to get it out of her.

"Alright, you can bring 'em in now, Buck." Rayna called out to her manager.

Two roadies walked in each of them carrying two guitar cases followed by Bucky who carried one guitar case. They all sat them down on the floor.

"Do you need anything else, Ray?" Bucky asked.

"No that's it, ya'll can go for the day." Rayna dismissed them with the wave of her hand.

"Ray, what is all this?" Deacon asked once they had gone.

"Open them and see. Start with that one first." She pointed to a guitar case.

He opened the first guitar case to reveal his beloved Martin that his grandfather had given him as a child. The next three cases held his sunburst Gibson, his Les Paul, and his Fender. "Ray, how?" His face was a mask of confusion.

"Let's just say that those first few royalty checks from Ball and Chain are goin' to Watty to pay him back for gettin' your guitars back. I couldn't let you lose your guitars, babe. Especially the Martin your pawpaw gave you or the Gibson that I gave you after our first gold record. This in no way changes anything you and I can still equal partners in this label. We work too well together for me to have it any other way. I can't do this without you." She told him simply. "I love you and that's just never not been true. No matter what lies I've told or how far I've tried to push you away."

"I love you too and it's as simple as that. I've forgiven you for the lie you told it's time that you know that. We still have some stuff to work through because of it, but I ain't doin' that no place, but right by your side." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

She kissed him back passionately for a moment before she smiled against his lips. "Aren't you gonna ask me about the fifth guitar case?"

"I was wonderin' 'bout that. I only sold four guitars." He arched his eyebrow.

"Open the case and find out what's inside." She could barely contain a grin.

He reluctantly let go of her and bent over to open the fifth guitar case. Inside the case was a little version of his Martin guitar. "Babe, this is a Little Martin." He ran his fingers over the strings for a moment before turning around to face her.

"I thought that our future son or daughter would have an easier time learning how to play if they had a guitar like the one daddy was teaching them to play on." Rayna held a grainy black and white ultrasound photo in her hand that was in a frame surrounded by guitar picks.

"Ray? How? I mean I know how. But I thought." Deacon was having a hard time communicating his words.

"We didn't lose the baby, Deacon. The OB resident at the hospital had everything messed up. I was only four weeks along at the time of the accident and that's why they couldn't find a heartbeat. The bleeding was an implantation bleed caused from the baby attaching to my uterus. We have a healthy baby with a strong heartbeat. It was the sweetest sound I've ever heard in my life. I had them record it for you. We are fourteen weeks along and in a couple more weeks we get to find out if we are having a son or another daughter." She explained to him with tears pouring down her face.

He pulled her into his arms gently as tears streamed down his face as well. "I have never been happier or more relieved in my entire life." He dropped down to his knees and kissed her belly. "And I've never been more in love than I am at this moment." He kissed her belly again. "Your daddy's little fighter. You just stay strong and momma is gonna take good care of you and I'm gonna take good care of her. You are so loved and wanted, my little buddy."

"Deacon, I don't wanna tell the girls yet not until my next appointment and not until we know for sure that there is nothing wrong. My OB said that everything looks good but she is gonna run a couple of tests at the next appointment just to be positive. I don't want to get their hopes up and then break their hearts the way I just watched yours break." She clung tightly to him.

"I understand completely." He nodded his head in understanding. "I wanna be there, you hear me? I don't wanna miss a minute of this. I plan on enjoyin' every second." He told her firmly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, babe. The only reason I didn't have you go with me today is because I thought it was just a checkup to make sure the miscarriage didn't do any lasting damage to my body. Little did I know that baby Claybourne here is a fighter just like his daddy." She swore to him. Neither of them knew for a fact that they were having a boy, but they both just had a feeling it was a boy.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. For those of you who follow my stories you know I'm a big fan of my soap opera twists and I just couldn't resist myself. Also I had to bring Luke in as a good guy in this story. Deacon doesn't have enough guy friends and I think that dynamic can get a little fun. I've got big plans for this story that I think you're all going to enjoy. Until next time please review.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers. The song used in this chapter is Martin and Me by Zac Brown Band.

* * *

Chapter 8

"Deacon, I would say that I'm shocked to see you here, but that would be a lie. At least tell me that you had the decency to wait for my nieces to be gone before you slinked in here." Tandy's greeting left a lot to be desired as she came into her sister's kitchen.

"Actually, if you must know Deacon took the girls to school today. They know that we are business partners and he's gonna be around here a lot until our offices are ready." Rayna poured a cup of coffee for her sister.

"They also know that he was your boyfriend before the accident. They are little girls they aren't stupid. Especially if he was here when they went to sleep and he's still here when they wake up." Tandy accepted the coffee with a nod.

"She either kicks me to the couch of makes me change clothes and come in after they've gotten up for school. We know what we're doin'. You really should learn to trust us more, Tandy." The laugh lines around Deacon's eyes crinkled up.

"I've seen the two of you do this song and dance many times. Forgive me if I don't trust either of you when it comes to each other." Tandy snorted.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you had a reason for coming here that has nothing to do with discussing sleeping arrangements with Deacon and I." Rayna narrowed her eyes at her sister.

"There's an act playing the Bluebird tonight. Bucky and I think that he and Deacon should check them out. You and I can have a girls' night while they work and get gloriously drunk. I figure we have earned it." Tandy retorted.

"Not happenin' the last time she got drunk with you she had a nasty three-day hangover that I had to nurse her through. I didn't think it was possible, but she was an even bigger bitch than you." He couldn't help himself. It was the nature of his and Tandy's relationship now. They took potshots at each other that they didn't really mean.

"Tough shit, buddy, she nursed you through hangovers that lasted weeks. I think that the saying goes that paybacks are hell." Tandy winked at him.

"Tandy, I am not getting drunk with you tonight. Deacon and I have to go play that song with Luke tomorrow and do promotion, so we are on an early plane out of here. I don't think the press people would appreciate me in my hungover state. They don't know me and love me like Deacon does." Rayna covered quickly. Her staying mum about her pregnancy included with her sister. She just wanted to be sure that everything was ok before she started telling people.

"Don't bad mouth that song too much. That and the song Deacon sold them are keeping this label afloat until your album comes out." Tandy pointed out to her.

"I'm not badmouthing the song. It's just if you've ever had to spend anytime alone with Deacon and Luke you would understand what I'm talking about." Rayna corrected her.

"Wheels up and I aren't that bad together." Deacon protested.

"No, you're not that bad together anymore. When you both used to drink together you did get pretty bad." Rayna informed.

"You always said that Vince and I were the worst together." He replied.

"There's no questioning that. You and Vince were the absolute worst together. You and Luke came in a close second and if all three of you were drinking together forget it." Rayna rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know, babe. You should be made a saint for dealin' with me." He didn't know what else to say to that.

* * *

"I know ya'll are gettin' pretty used to seein' my good friends Rayna Jaymes and Freakin' Deacon up here playin' with me lately. We do have a hit song on our hands that we like to do it every chance we get. Tonight though, I'm gonna do somethin' a little different. What ya'll might not know is that Deacon is a pretty good front man. Tonight ya'll are in for a treat. He's gonna play for us." Luke pumped the crowd up for Deacon.

Deacon took a seat on a stool and began picking out a soft tune on his Martin. _"He was born in the words torn from his home. Well, he was naked and destined to be out on his own. And he waited in darkness hoping someone might see. From somethin' so rough what a treasure he'd be."_ He'd written this song after Rayna had gotten him his guitars back and told him that she was still pregnant.

" _Stronger than steel and wood. Seen me through the bad and good. And when I'm hangin' by a string every little thing is understood between Martin and me."_

" _Well, he's hollow in the middle from the shape that he's in. He's either filled up with music or locked in his shell again. And it takes some fine tunin' to make him come around. But, he's a huge piece of me and I'll never put him down."_ The song wasn't just about the guitar it was about Rayna too.

" _Stronger than steel and wood. Seen me through the bad and good. And when I'm hangin' by a string every little thing is understood between Martin and me."_ He launched into a guitar solo here.

" _He is a good friend and he has his own voice. And you get what you give sometimes it's just noise."_ He and Luke sang that line together.

" _But if you treat him well he will last your life long. If you're honest and open he will write you a song."_ Deacon sang again.

" _Write you a song."_ Luke chimed in.

" _Write you a song."_ They harmonized together.

" _Stronger than steel and wood. Seen me through the bad and good. When I'm hangin' by a string every little thing is understood. Hangin' on by a string every little thing is understood between martin and me. Yeah, yeah, yeah."_ He finished softly and did some fancy picking on the guitar.

"Freakin' Deacon Claybourne, ladies and gentlemen." Luke cheered.

The crowd got to their feet and gave Deacon a standing ovation.

"Deacon, I don't even know what to say. That song was wow. It was incredible. I think that answers the question about whether we pair up or both go solo. You can't stand in my shadow anymore, babe. It's your turn to shine." Rayna told him as they sat in their dressing room.

"I don't intend to shine if you're not right there beside me. We can do this together and still be solo artists." Deacon reasoned with her.

"You are too damn perfect for words sometimes." Her eyes teared up. Her pregnancy hormones had her all over the place lately.

"Darlin' you shine brighter than I ever could I just sparkle a little bit." He winked at her.

"You are too damn sweet sometimes." She leaned over to kiss him.

* * *

The next promo appearance Rayna made for Ball and Chain was without Deacon. He had a show that he had to play and she had insisted that she would be ok to travel alone. They still had another week before their doctor's appointment and it had them both a little bit more on edge than usual.

"Hell of a performance as usual, Rayna. Just doesn't have the same spark without Deacon though." Luke told her after the show.

"I know he just adds a little something extra to that song." Rayna agreed with him.

"We're friends let's cut through the bullshit here. The chemistry is missin' when he's not 'round. You two are so hot together that you damn near burn that stage down with me on it." He chuckled.

"No one could ever say that Deacon and I don't have great chemistry that's for sure. Chemistry has never been our problem though." She laughed.

"I've been meanin' to check up on you the last couple weeks, but I wanted to give you your space. How have you been doin'?" He seemed genuinely concerned for her.

"I'm doin' alright, Luke. Really, it's sweet of you to worry though." She smiled at him.

"I hope you don't mind that I called Deacon on you. I was just worried 'bout you. You seemed pretty upset that night." He picked at the label of his beer bottle.

"No, I don't mind at all. Deacon always knows just what I need to make me feel better. I'm gonna be just fine." She promised him.

"That's real good to hear. You got a lot of stuff to be happy 'bout. Your label is really takin' off." He commented.

"It is. I owe part of that to you for lettin' Scarlett come out on the road with you." She told him.

"Aw hell, Rayna, you supplied the talent all I did was give her a stage." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Still, it was a huge help. Thank you." She thanked him.

"You didn't need my help. You had it under control. If the other night was any indication you've got another pretty great artist on your hands with Deacon. I didn't realize he was that great as a front man." He was just making conversation now.

"In the beginning Deacon was the more confident of the two of us when we were on stage. We started out as a duo, but when Edgehill signed me they wanted me and not him. So, he stayed on as my bandleader. He tried to put an album out on his own, but it didn't go anywhere. He told me that it was just a sign he was meant to stand on the side of that stage beside me and help me shine." She smiled at the memory.

"I don't think I've ever seen too people as crazy 'bout each other as ya'll are. Back in the day I tried everythin' to get you to give me the time of day, but you either didn't notice or you just ignored it." He chuckled.

"Luke, I honestly didn't know that you had a thing for me. Not that I would have noticed. I've always been so blindly in love with Deacon that no other man showed up on my radar." She admitted truthfully.

"I used to not get it, not until recently anyway. What you saw in him, why you kept givin' him so many chances, it wasn't just love it was need. I ain't never seen two people need each other the way you do before. It's pretty damn special I'll tell you that much." He observed.

"I don't think that anyone has ever understood the pull that Deacon and I have on each other. That includes me and Deacon. It's been there from the second we first laid eyes on each other. I can't even begin to explain it. I was in love with him in five seconds and it was the same way for him. Him and Vince were all the family I had in this world for the longest time." She replied.

"Damn there should be Greek tragedies written 'bout you two." He joked.

"That's not far from the truth. The biggest regret I have in my life is not waitin' for him that last time he was in rehab. Part of the reason he got so bad when he did was because he blamed himself for Vince. Losin' Vince changed him in ways that I can't even begin to explain." She sighed.

"They were brothers. Somethin' like that changes you whether you want it to or not. And sometimes it takes a long time to shake." He offered some words of wisdom.

"Don't start getting all wise on me or I'm gonna have to check and make sure that you're really the Luke Wheeler who we used to hustle at poker." She cracked a smile.

"I owe ya'll some payback for that now that you mention it. Ya'll used to hustle the hell outta me. Then you'd laugh at me. Like a dumb ass I'd go back and play with ya'll again every damn time ya asked." He laughed heartily.

"Those were the good ol' days for sure." She laughed as well.

"Too bad Freakin' Deacon ain't 'round tonight or we could get us a game goin'." He grinned.

"Who says that I need Deacon to beat your ass at poker?" She arched her eyebrow.

"It's on then. Let me find a deck of cards." He grabbed a beer out of a bucket of ice. "You want one?"

"No, I'm good. I have meetings tomorrow and I can't be hungover." She covered quickly.

He produced a deck of cards. "Let's do this then."

* * *

"You made sure that no one saw you come in right?" Rayna was on an exam table wearing a paper gown.

Deacon pulled off his ball cap and sunglasses. "I made damn sure that no one saw me. I snuck in the back entrance and everythin'. Has the doctor been in yet?"

"No, I just got changed. The doctor should be back any minute." She replied.

"Good, I didn't miss anythin' then." He took her hand and kissed it.

The door to the exam room opened and Dr. Sandra Brown walked in. She had delivered both Maddie and Daphne.

"Rayna, this is just a routine exam and we are gonna run some tests on the baby to make sure that there aren't any genetic abnormalities. As I told at your last visit. The baby looks very healthy and right on target for where it should be. And maybe today we will be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl if we get lucky." Dr. Brown smiled.

"Dr. Brown, this is my boyfriend, Deacon. He's the father." Rayna introduced him.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Claybourne, I'm a big fan of yours." Dr. Brown smiled at him.

"Thank you," Deacon smiled back politely.

"We will start with the not so fun part first." Dr. Brown pulled Rayna's gown up and exposed her belly.

Deacon's eyes went wide when he saw the nine-inch needle that she used to take a sample of the amniotic fluid. He thought he was going to pass out there for a minute.

Rayna squeezed her eyes shut and gripped his hand tightly.

"Ok, the hard part is over. We will have those test results back before you leave here today." Dr. Brown picked up the ultrasound gel. "Now, this is gonna be a little cold." She warned before she squirted it on Rayna's belly.

Rayna flinched a little bit from the temperature of the gel, but other than that she stayed still.

This being his first time Deacon of course noticed the action. "You ok? Did that hurt?"

"I'm fine, baby, it was just cold." Rayna assured him.

"Alright, just checkin'." He nodded his head in acceptance of her answer.

Dr. Brown moved the ultrasound wand around and the rhythmic thump of the baby's heartbeat filled the room.

Deacon took a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. "I'll be damned if that ain't the sweetest sound I've ever heard in my life." He wiped away the tear that had fallen from his eye.

"Congratulations, momma and daddy you have a healthy baby boy." Dr. Brown reported after she'd studied the screen for a minute.

Rayna looked up at Deacon with tears streaming down her face. "Did you hear that, Deacon? We're havin' a son."

Deacon gripped her hand tightly and kissed her lips tenderly. "That's our son, Ray." He gestured with his eyes to the screen. He just in amazement for a moment. Words couldn't describe what he was feeling at the minute.

Rayna watched his face as he went through a full range of emotions in the matter of five seconds. She smiled when the biggest smile she'd ever seen broke out on his face. "That's our boy and he's a fighter just like his daddy."

"No way, he gets that strength from his momma." He kissed her forehead.

"I'm gonna go print these out for you and check on your test results and I will be right back." Dr. Brown excused herself.

"You look pretty damn proud of yourself right now." Rayna smirked.

"It's a boy, Ray. My little man. My future best buddy." Deacon had the goofiest grin on his face.

"You feel really manly right now don't you?" She asked him.

"Damn right I do. I made a boy and he survived against all odds." He nodded his head. He could already see all the things that he was gonna do with his son.

 _Deacon sat in arm chair with a guitar in his hands. Across from him sat his with a guitar in his hands as well._

" _It's no use, daddy, I ain't ever gonna get it." Cash pouted his bottom lip sticking out._

" _Of course you're gonna get it. Don't give up now. You're gettin' better and better every time we run through it. The chord transition is the hardest part." Deacon reassured him. "Let's try it again."_

 _Deacon and Cash ran through the song again and this time the little boy nailed it._

" _Did, you hear that, daddy? I finally got it." Cash exclaimed._

" _You crushed it, Bubba. I'm so proud of you." Deacon rewarded him with a high five and a huge smile._

" _I couldn't have done it without my best buddy to show me how." Cash gave him a toothless grin._

" _You'll always have your best buddy right here to help you no matter what." Deacon ruffled his hair._

"I have some good news." Dr. Brown came back into the room with the test results and brought Deacon back to reality.

"What is it?" Rayna asked.

"Your son is completely healthy. The ultrasound shows no damage from the accident and he has no genetic abnormalities. I don't anticipate you having any problems with this pregnancy and you can make an appointment for next month on your way out." Dr. Brown reported.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Brown. I can't tell you what a relief it is to hear that he's ok." Deacon gushed.

"It's no problem at all. I was happy to be able to give you good news. Just take good care of her, daddy. Make sure that she is comfortable and doesn't have too much stress. Keep her off her feet as much as possible and take some of the housework off of her." Dr. Brown told him.

"I can absolutely do that." Deacon agreed readily.

"In that case I will see you next month." Dr. Brown smiled and left the room.

* * *

"Deacon, I don't need a nap I'm fine." Rayna complained as she watched Deacon pull back the covers on her bed.

"You heard the doctor you need to be takin' it easy. One little nap ain't gonna kill you. We don't have the girls this week and you can sleep until we have that business dinner with Bucky and Tandy later." Deacon replied. He wasn't about to take no for an answer.

"Ok, fine, if it will make you feel better I will take a nap." She relented with a sigh. She crawled into bed. She smiled a little inside at his use of the word we when he referred to the girls.

He got in behind her and rested his hand on her belly. "You just go on and nap. I've got both of ya."

Despite her protests Rayna fell asleep quickly and was pulled into a vivid dream.

 _Rayna was once again on the riverbank on her mother's property. Today her mother wore a sleeveless white sundress. She cradled the same redheaded baby boy in her arms._

" _Hi, sweet girl," Virginia smiled at her daughter. "Shh, it's ok," She shushed the baby. "Do you mind? He's fussy today?" She handed him to Rayna._

 _Rayna held the baby close to her chest and rocked him gently. "Momma, how'd you know?" She asked about the things that she had said before._

" _Cause I'm your momma and it's my job to know. I knew that Deacon would do whatever it took to make your dreams come true just like he always has. I knew that you would need him to make this label work and to be there for you and this baby." Virginia explained._

" _But before when I asked you if this was him. You said yes. You said that the red hair aside he looks just like his daddy." Rayna looked confused._

" _I never said he was your baby, Rayna. Look at him and I mean really look at him. He does look just like his daddy." Virginia replied._

 _Rayna looked down at the baby in her arms and despite his red hair he didn't share their mother's facial features. However, she'd seen his facial features and his eyes on a man before. That man just wasn't Deacon. "Momma, he looks just like Watty."_

" _That's because Watty is his daddy. When I left that night it was to tell him and to have my things out of the house before Lamar got back. I was comin' right back for you girls. I wouldn't have left you for anythin' in the world. I just didn't want you to be there to hear what a whore your momma was." Virginia went on._

" _Momma, there's no possible way that I could have ever thought that about you. I worshiped you. I still do. And trust me I've done way worse than you have. I've gotten pregnant twice by a man that I'm not married too. The same man I lusted after my entire marriage and the man who's daughter I kept from him. I honestly don't know how he looks at me sometimes." Rayna admitted._

" _Like I told you before he is your Watty. That man would go to the ends of the earth and let you do anythin' to him and he would still come back for more. In your shoes I don't know what I would have done in the beginnin'. That is somethin' that he should have heard from you though. That's part of what I meant when I said that you were gonna need each other for what comes next. What comes next is the work you two gotta do to repair the trust that was broken between you." Virginia cupped her face gently in her hands._

" _Momma, I was just so scared and so confused I didn't know what else to do. I had Tandy and Teddy in my ear tellin' me that Deacon didn't need to know. I knew from the minute that stick turned blue that Deacon was the father. Instead of doin' the brave thing and tellin' him. I buried myself in a marriage I didn't really wanna be in with a man I didn't particularly like all that much. I don't know how I begin to address that or make that up to him. He has to think that I stopped believin' in him, I didn't I stopped believin' in myself and in my ability to hold it all together." Rayna told her tearfully._

" _Then that's what you tell him when you two finally get 'round to talkin' 'bout it. And you let him get as mad as he wants to get you just don't let him push you away or give up on him." Virginia stood back and just watched her middle child holding her youngest child for a moment. "You would've made a great big sister. And you are an incredible momma don't you ever doubt that." Virginia kissed her forehead and took the baby back from her. "I love you, sweet girl."_

" _I love you too, momma." Rayna replied tearfully._

* * *

Rayna, Deacon, Tandy, and Bucky sat in restaurant. They were having a working dinner to go over things for Highway 65. Once they got business talk out of the way the two sisters moved on to gossiping like they always did.

"Babe, split several bottles of wine with me as repayment for making sure your label doesn't sink." Tandy told her sister.

"Please, she is so much easier to deal with when she's drunk." Bucky begged.

"I have one alcoholic as this table that I have to worry about I don't need another. I refuse to contribute to your drunkenness." Rayna shot a look in Deacon's direction.

"I am firmly on the wagon. You don't have to worry 'bout me." Deacon assured her. He gave her a meaningful look back.

"Ok, you two are doing that thing where you talk without using words. What's going on?" Bucky asked. He'd been around them both long enough to know when they were up to something.

"Tandy, I won't be drinking for around the next six months at least." Rayna informed her.

"Why? Did you lose a bet with Deacon? Or have you two been having so much angry unprotected sex that he got you pregnant again?" Tandy said and then she shot her sister an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, babe, that was insensitive and I should have thought before I said that."

Rayna bit her lip. "Well, as it turns out I didn't lose the baby after all. The OB resident at the hospital screwed up my due date and the bleeding wasn't anything serious." She looked around to make sure no one was watching before she pulled the ultrasound picture out of her purse. She handed it to her sister.

Tandy looked at the ultrasound and then looked over at Deacon. "You screw this up and I will come after you with the force of a hurricane."

"I ain't screwin' this up for anythin' in the world." Deacon promised.

"Oh, Deacon, just go on and say it we both know that you want to." Rayna could tell it was killing him a little inside to not say it was boy.

Deacon pointed to something on the ultrasound. "Look at your nephew puttin' his goods on display all proud for the whole world to see."

"Congratulations, Ray," Bucky leaned over and kissed Rayna's cheek. "Deacon, hopefully he gets your guitar playing skills." He shook his hand.

"Babe, you have my congratulations and my condolences. You're getting a little Deacon. I'm really happy for you, but I'm never watching this kid until I'm sure he's house broken." Tandy hugged her sister.

"I already have a little Deacon. Her name is Maddie and she couldn't be more like him if she tried." Rayna laughed.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this." Tandy hugged Deacon. "Congratulations, you've proved your manhood by making a boy. And for what it's worth I don't think you're gonna suck at this daddy thing."

"Thanks, I think." Deacon just looked confused. The new dynamics of their relationship were hard to decipher sometimes. They were starting to like each other more than either one of them wanted to let on.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 9

Maddie and Daphne sat on the couch looking between Deacon and Rayna who stood in front of them holding hands. They had said they wanted to talk to the girls about something, but now neither one of them was doing any talking.

"What's this about?" Maddie finally asked.

"Uh, we are just searchin' for the right words to say this." Deacon rubbed the back of his neck.

"Before we say anything else I want you two to know that you are very much loved and wanted and how special you both are to both Deacon and me." Rayna tried to find the right words.

"Is something wrong?" Daphne asked concerned.

"No, there's nothin' wrong. This is good news. Ya'll might not think so at first, but it is." Deacon reassured her.

"Deacon and I are havin' a baby. I'm pregnant." There Rayna had just said it to get it out in the open.

"Ya'll are gonna be big sisters. Well, in Maddie's case she's gonna be a big sister again." Deacon added.

"So, you decided that I wasn't enough for you and you had to have one that was yours from the beginning?" Maddie asked her eyes tearing up.

"Hey, that's not true at all. I didn't even know that you were mine when your momma got pregnant. I didn't even know that she was pregnant until after I found out 'bout you." Deacon kneeled down in front of her with his hands on her knees. "I want you to listen to me good. This in no way changes how I feel 'bout you or makes you any less mine. I know that we are still gettin' to know each other and learnin' how to navigate these waters together and that this makes it a little more complicated. You're the one that made me a daddy though don't you ever forget that."

"Wait, you two have known this long and you're just now telling us? Doesn't how we feel matter?" Maddie got mad and stared him down.

"Maddie, before you get mad you need to let us explain. When I woke up from that coma the doctors told me that I lost the baby. Do you remember how I seemed really sad for awhile? That was why. I didn't want you girls to know or to be upset. When I went to the doctor for a checkup a couple weeks ago I found out that I didn't actually lose the baby." Rayna explained calmly.

"So, how pregnant are you, mom?" Daphne was easier to appease and she would just go with the flow unlike Maddie.

"I'm about seventeen weeks give or take a few days." Rayna smiled at her.

"Do you know what you're having?" Maddie asked. She was excited, but at the same time she was jealous.

"I'm glad that you asked that." Deacon stood up. He took a pink guitar pick and a blue guitar pick out of his pocket. "Which one do ya'll think?" he made a game out of it.

Daphne picked the blue guitar pick and Maddie the pink.

"Who is right?" Daphne asked.

Rayna sat a wrapped box down in front of each of them. "I'll let Deacon tell you that." She couldn't deny him that. He was so proud of himself that she had to let him tell them.

"Ya'll are gettin' a baby brother." Deacon just beamed from ear to ear.

"What is in the boxes?" Maddie was getting a little more into this. She was secretly relieved that it wasn't a girl.

"You're gonna have to open those to find out." Rayna winked at her.

The girls both opened the boxes that he been sat in front of them. They'd each gotten a picture frame with guitar picks and music notes on them. Inside there was a copy of the latest ultrasound picture with the words World's Best Big Sister Love Your Future Baby Brother.

"So, how 'bout it you two gonna help me out? I'm in over my head here and this little boy is gonna need a whole lotta love." Deacon held his arms open and both girls gave him a huge hug.

* * *

"Oh, I know, baby I know. Just get it all out." Deacon held Rayna's hair back while she threw up in the bathroom of her dressing room.

"I fucking hate you, Deacon. This is your damn fault. You did this to me." Rayna got up off her knees and rinsed her mouth out.

"I know, babe. It's all my fault. You get to blame me as much as you want to right now." He spoke to her soothingly. He was surprised that she'd made it through their performance without throwing up. She'd look like she was going to be sick for hours.

"Don't patronize me, Deacon. I am not in the mood for your bullshit right now." She glared at him. Her hormones made her moods turn on a dime. One moment she would be happy and telling him how amazing he was the next she was cussing him out and blaming him for everything that was wrong with the world.

"Sorry, maybe it would be better if I didn't talk to you at all." He threw his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"That would be a damn good idea." She snipped at him.

Deacon went to answer the door when there was a knock. He had learned that in this situation the best thing to say was nothing at all. He didn't want her to bite his head off if he could avoid it. "Hey, Wheels Up, come on in." He greeted Luke warmly.

"Freakin' Deacon, hell of a performance as usual, brother." Luke clapped him on the back.

"Well, hey, Luke." Rayna had a smile on her face now.

"Rayna, I just dropped in to touch base with ya'll." Luke hugged her.

"Good lord, Luke, did you bathe in your aftershave or what?" She pulled away from him quickly. She took a few deep breaths to calm her rolling stomach.

"No I didn't bathe in it. You feelin' ok? Did Deacon let you drink so much on the way over here that you're hungover?" Luke asked.

"I wish this were a hangover that would mean it would go away soon." She groaned.

"No, she ain't doin' no drinkin'." Deacon took her hand.

Luke looked between both of them. "What exactly is goin' on here?"

"Well, since you're our friend we might as well tell you before you hear it second hand." She mused.

"Tell me what?" Luke looked even more confused now.

"Ray's pregnant. As it turns out she didn't lose the baby. That's what's been up with her lately." Deacon grinned.

"I'm happy for ya'll. You look really happy together." Luke smiled at them.

"We are really happy together." Rayna smiled back.

"Right now anyway. Give it five minutes and I may have done something to piss her off. Or you know a commercial sends her on a cryin' jag." Deacon teased.

"It's not ok to make fun of a pregnant woman's hormones. I get that it is pretty entertaining for you, but until you have all these excess emotions and things going on in your body that you can't control you won't understand what it's like." Rayna's bottom lip quivered.

"Hey, it's ok, I wasn't laughin' at you. I know it's not funny and I don't think it is for that matter." Deacon hugged close to him and bit his lip to keep from bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"Deacon, I'm gonna wish you luck and I'm gonna head on down the road. I'll see ya'll again in Nashville." Luke knew when to stick around and when not to.

* * *

Maddie was playing at a kids open mic thing. Rayna as usual was running late. She wasn't late per say as she just hadn't shown up early. Deacon was standing in the back of the room holding up a wall when she got there.

"What are you doing standing all the way back here by yourself?" She asked.

"It's Maddie's big day and I didn't wanna cause a scene. She knows that I'm here. I promised her I'd be here and I ain't broke a promise to her yet. I'm ok to hang out back here and watch her." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, that's just too damn bad. You have every right to come sit with me. She's your daughter too." She took him by the hand and drug him along with her. She fought the urge to roll her eyes when she saw Peggy sitting next to Teddy. She'd never liked her and she never would.

"Rayna, there you are. I saved you a couple seats for family." Peggy was as phony as ever.

"Thanks, Peggy." Rayna plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Deacon," Teddy nodded in the other man's direction.

"Teddy," Deacon replied in kind. He sat down beside Rayna and put his arm around her.

"I didn't realize that you two were back together." Peggy was fishing for information.

"Deacon and I are just running our label together." Rayna replied. What went on between her and Deacon was theirs it wasn't for anyone else to speculate about. They were dodging the reporters as it was.

"That means we do pretty much everythin' together. Even when we don't have to." Deacon chuckled lightly. He was perfectly alright with her not opening about their relationship to Peggy. He'd heard a mouthful about her while Rayna was still in school. He knew that she couldn't stand her or any of her little friends.

"It's nice that you're exes and you can work so well together." Peggy observed.

"Sometimes it just works out that way." Raya's facial muscles were starting to ache from the fake smile she had to put on. Her smile turned genuine when Maddie took the stage and she saw how Deacon lit up with pride.

"Today I'm going to play a song that my guitar teacher wrote and I'm going to ask him to come up here and play it with me. Deacon, come on up here." Maddie waved him up to the stage.

Deacon looked surprised that she wanted him up there with her.

"Go on, don't keep her waiting." Rayna urged him.

Deacon got up and joined his daughter on stage. He picked up a guitar and sat next to her.

Teddy frowned deeply and clenched his jaw.

"I didn't realize the two of them were so close." Peggy whispered to Rayna.

"He's been around her for her whole life. She was with him on a tour bus for the first four or five years of her life. He's been helping her with her guitar playing." Rayna whispered back.

Maddie and Deacon played through A Life That's Good. He hugged her when they got off the stage.

"That was amazin'. I'm so proud of you, baby girl." He kissed her head.

"Thanks, Deacon." She smiled up at him. "Uh, so I know that I have the option of staying with you whenever I want and I was hoping that maybe I could stay with you tonight."

"Yeah, of course you can stay with me anytime you want to. You know that." He smiled brightly. He was so happy that she had been the one to initiate it.

When Rayna had Maddie's birth certificate changed and established Deacon's paternal rights. They'd made the agreement that since Deacon was so flexible and good about doing what was best for Maddie that he could have her whenever he wanted to no questions asked.

"Can I have the keys to the truck to go put my guitar up?" Maddie asked when she walked back over.

"Yeah, it's parked right out front. Just let me grab your momma and I will meet you out there." He handed over the keys.

"Deacon, what the hell was that?" Teddy demanded.

"I'm not doin' this here, Teddy. You ain't gotta like me and I ain't gotta like you, but we gotta learn to get along. All that matters is that little girl's happiness. Just remember I could've cut you out. I could have made you nothin' just like you decided it was your place to do to me, but I didn't I put her first." Deacon replied calmly.

"What did you think you were doing getting up on stage with her like that? You don't think that's going to raise questions?" Teddy kept spouting off at the mouth.

"She wanted me to and there isn't a thing I wouldn't do for her." Deacon kept walking out to his truck.

"Should I be scared that she has your truck keys?" Rayna waited for him at the back of the venue.

"She's comin' home with me." Deacon replied.

"Over my dead body. Do you know how that looks?" Teddy asked.

"Teddy, I told you now is not the time for this." Deacon cautioned him. He walked outside to where Maddie was waiting for him in the truck.

"Got my guitar all packed up." Maddie reported.

"Now give me the keys back. I trust you with my keys 'bout as much as I trust your momma. Ask her someday what I think 'bout her drivin' skills." Deacon teased her.

"Is that why you always pick her up when you guys go out?" Maddie started to climb into the passenger seat.

"Maddie, come on let's go home. Tell Deacon bye and that you'll see him later." Teddy just didn't know when to leave well enough alone.

"I was just gonna go with Deacon." Maddie replied.

"You're just coming home with me. It's my week, now come on." Teddy said more forcefully.

Maddie looked between Teddy and Deacon unsure what to do.

"Sweetie, for the sake of keepin' the peace just go on home. We will do somethin' together some other time." Deacon didn't want to make things difficult on her.

"But, I want to go with you now." Maddie's eyes started to tear up.

"Let me talk to her for a minute." Rayna stepped in. She had Maddie scoot over into the middle seat of the truck. "Sweet girl, you do what you want it is up to you. The choice is totally yours. You get to come and go as you please as long as Deacon is ok with you bein' with him."

"I don't know why it has to be like this. Why dad has to fight it. I have every right to want to be with Deacon too. Sometimes I think I'd be better off if I didn't see either one of them." Maddie sighed.

"I think that you would be missin' out if you did that. Now who do you want to go with tonight? It's your choice, baby girl." Rayna kissed her head.

"I really wanna go with Deacon." Maddie admitted.

"Then that's what you'll do. Have a good time with him. I love you." Rayna kissed her forehead again.

"I love you too, mom." Maddie replied.

Rayna got out of the truck. "Deacon, get in the truck and go. I will handle this and I will talk to you later."

Deacon didn't put up any arguments. He just got into the truck with Maddie and drove away.

"Rayna, what the hell was that?" Teddy seethed.

"That was me stepping in before you could make a scene." Rayna stared him down.

"I can't believe that you just let her go off with him like that it's supposed to be Teddy's week." Peggy stuck her nose in where it didn't belong.

"Teddy didn't give you the full story then." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"Rayna, can't you be on my side for once?" Teddy asked.

"Teddy, we are both extremely lucky that he didn't sue us for what we did to him. Need I remind you that the only reason that you still have a week with her is out of courtesy to Daphne? Whether you like him or not you need to get used to him bein' 'round. 'Cause he ain't goin' anywhere." Rayna leveled him with a cold stare.

"Rayna, you and I both know what he was like back then. You know better than anyone. You tell me that he was in the position to take care of a child. The answer to that is no. I stepped in and did what he couldn't. And now you're just letting Maddie forget about the man that's been there for thirteen years." Teddy whispered harshly.

"He's her father, Teddy. She has every right to want to get to know him and spend time with him. There's a custody agreement that says Maddie and Deacon get to be together whenever it's agreeable to both of them. I only have so much sway with him. You fight him too much harder on this and I can promise you that he will go nuclear on you. There ain't a damn thing I'll be able to do to stop him either. Let it go, Teddy. If it weren't for him she still wouldn't be talking to either of us." Rayna whispered back.

"Fine, I'll let it go. But when he screws up with her. I get to say I told you so." Teddy retorted.

"He's not gonna hurt her, Teddy. She could hurt him a hell of a lot worse than he'd ever hurt her." Rayna put her hand over her mouth to fight off the wave of nausea she felt bubble up.

"Think whatever you want. No one can ever get you to see reason when it comes to him anyway." Teddy rolled his eyes.

"I'm not gonna argue with you, Teddy. I've gotta go. I'll see you at your music festival thing in a few days." Rayna said as she walked to her SUV. She climbed behind the wheel and sighed. "You can't do that to momma, little boy. I get it I ate something that you don't like. You don't have to voice your displeasure the way that daddy does." She rubbed her hand over the baby bump that had really started to form.

* * *

"Maddie, don't laugh at me this ain't funny." Deacon was trying pretty unsuccessfully to use a pair of chopsticks to eat the Chinese food they had picked up for dinner on the way back to his place. Normally he stayed with Rayna or she stayed with him when she didn't have the girls, but sharing a bed with them under the same roof wasn't a line they were ready to knowingly blur.

"From where I sit it's pretty funny, Deacon." Maddie laughed even harder.

"Alright, that's just fine. I'm gonna remember this." He winked at her.

"Thank you for not fighting with my dad earlier. I know that that couldn't have been easy for you. If I were you I wouldn't have let him act that way. I don't know why he can't accept that I can love both of you. He makes me not want to go around him sometimes. If it weren't for Daphne, I wouldn't. He doesn't understand me the way you do. He thinks that because he's the one that's always been there that that entitles him to my unquestioned forgiveness. I understand that you're an alcoholic, but he still didn't have the right to decide to lie to me my whole life." She gave a loud sigh and let out all her pent up frustration.

"Sweetie, I'm just as pissed off and frustrated as you are with the situation. It's not supposed to be this way. I'm so beyond relieved that your momma and the baby are ok that I haven't even begun to address the fact that she lied to me 'bout you. You are so much like me. You and I we both feel things deeply and we wanna hang on to the hurt and the pissed off and basically just rage against all humanity. We gotta keep that in check though. I'm not gonna tell you how to feel or how you should feel. I'm gonna tell you that you get to feel whatever you need to feel. I'll always be here to listen." He replied the only way that he knew how. He wasn't trying to poison the well, but he was allowed to tell her how he felt too.

"Do you ever feel like you just have this fire inside of you that's ready to burn you alive at any second if you don't do something to help put it out?" She asked.

"That's exactly how I feel a lot of the time. Like I'm hurlin' a hundred miles an hour towards a brick wall that I'm either gonna crash into or I'm gonna grab the wheel and correct course at the last second. That's part of the reason that I write so many damn songs. It's one of the only things that makes the crazy in my head go away." He explained to her.

"Do you think that we could write a song together right now?" She asked him.

"I think that we better get the guitars and some paper. This could take awhile." He replied.

"What about dinner?" She inquired.

"We can eat and write at the same time. You have no idea the number of times your momma and I have done this." He moved their food to the coffee table and grabbed his guitar.

"Can I ask what's going on between you and mom?" She sat down beside him.

"You can ask, but that doesn't mean I have an answer for you either way. I'm not sure that your momma and I even know what we are right now. There is a conversation that we need to have. I love her and she loves me that I know for a fact. I guess you could say that we are together right now, but I don't know that you could call it that either. I'll tell you what though the best thing that could have happened is us runnin' that label together it forces us to talk and not do what we do best. And you are way too young and too damn innocent for me to get into that with you." He chuckled.

"I'm thirteen I know where babies come from and just I don't want to think about it." She shivered at the thought.

"Good I don't want you thinkin' 'bout it. It's just as gross for me as it is for you, so don't bring it up again you little sicko." He pushed her shoulder playfully.

"Don't call me a sicko, I'm not the one who doesn't know what protection is for." She laughed at the disgusted look that came to his face.

"This conversation is over." He put his foot down.

"I love you, dad." She just had to try it on for size and she really liked the way it sounded.

"I love you too, Maddie." He smiled at her proudly. His heart was about to burst out of his chest from the rush of love he felt for her.

"I bet you're really glad that you're not gonna have another one like me to deal with aren't you?" She teased him.

"You have no idea how thankful I am that this one is a boy. The world can only take one female version of me and that spot belongs to you." He tapped her nose with his index finger.

"Oh, yeah, it just makes you real manly, dad." She pushed his buttons a little bit.

"You know it. I made a boy that is an epically awesome feat. But you know what I made this girl that's pretty epically awesome too." He winked at her.

Rayna came in a couple hours later. There were sheets of paper all over the floor and food cartons on the coffee table. "It looks like someone had a good songwriting session."

"Hey, babe, what are you doin' here? Maddie just got into the shower." Deacon pecked her lips and then he bent down to kiss her belly. "How's daddy's boy today?"

"Your boy is being a pain in the ass just like his daddy. He's decided that he doesn't like anything that momma has had to eat today." She placed her hand on top of his on her belly. "I just really wanted to come by and thank you for not losing it with Teddy earlier. I know that he pushed you and you didn't push back."

"I did what I had to for that little girl. Don't think for a second that I didn't want to put my fist through his face." He replied with a sigh.

"I know you did I could see it your eyes that Maddie was the only thing holding you back from it. You showed a lot of willpower and I'm grateful, babe." She kissed him tenderly.

"Ray, I'm done with this bein' her father in secret shit. I'm done bein' Uncle Deacon or just her guitar teacher. I shouldn't have to go out in public and pretend that she isn't mine. It's none of the press' damn business. Let them jump to whatever conclusion they want to. That is my daughter and I'm damn sick of havin' to cover that up. I was so damn proud of her tonight and I didn't get to show it the way that I wanted to. It's like a knife to my damn heart every time I hear her referred to as Conrad. It should be my last name that she has and we both know that. I'm done bein' bullied and I'm done with the secrets. You need to find a way for me to be her dad in public." He told her in no uncertain terms. This was only part of the conversation that they had been putting off for weeks.

"Deacon, you know what the press is like. We need to protect her from that. It is none of their business, but they will make it their business. I know that you want to be her dad all the time and not just behind closed doors, but for that to happen we have to do it in a way that keeps her protected." She reasoned with him.

"The way to do it would have been to give me an option thirteen years ago. You had her birth certificate changed to reflect the fact I'm her father. You're just trickin' yourself if you don't think that some reporter could go dig that up. She called me dad tonight and that well that was probably the best damn thing I've ever heard. Forget your image and forget Teddy. What about me and Maddie? What about how we feel? Did you ever think 'bout the secret you're askin' us to live with?" He pointed out logically.

"I know, Deacon, I know ok? Can we just go to bed and leave this for another day? We do need to sort this out, but we aren't gonna figure it out in one night. This needs to be something we work towards slowly." She replied. She had no fight left in her she knew that he was right. He and Maddie both deserved better than what she was asking of them.

"What do you mean go to bed? Maddie's here, Ray." He looked confused.

"You say that you're tired of the secrets and the hiding. Well so am I. I'm done hiding this from the girls. I want my girls to see what true love looks like even when it's messy and imperfect and when both parties have made mistakes, but they are working through it. I love you, babe. I don't want to spend another minute pretending that that's not true." She took his hand.

"We can do that. I like that idea a lot. I got a t-shirt and some sleep pants with your name on 'em. You go on and get ready for bed while I clean up this mess in here." He smiled and kissed her hand.

"I'll be waiting on ya. Don't keep me waiting all night. Your son has done very interesting things to my hormones. You should know that I'm pretty horny all the time." She told him seductively.

"I ain't gonna keep you waitin' long darlin'. I'll be along shortly." He promised her. It felt good to finally get some things out in the open. They still had quite a bit that they needed to hash out, but they would get to it sooner or later.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. When everyone is carrying on about Deacon being a man because he made a boy it's just meant as a joke and it is in no way meant to imply he wouldn't be just as much of a man had he made a girl or that having a daughter isn't as good as having a son. Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but the current story line on the show is really killing my muse. Thanks for sticking it out with me. Until next time please review.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 10

Deacon stood at the stove cooking breakfast and Rayna sat at the table watching him. She wore his sleep pants and his t-shirt.

"Something sure smells good. I forgot what a good cook you are." She smiled at him.

"I don't know how you forgot. I was the one who taught you how to cook." He looked over his shoulder and smirked at her.

"You're never gonna let me live that down are you?" She asked even though she already knew the answer to that.

"No, I am not ever lettin' you live that down. You were a spoiled little princess and you ended up livin' with two guys whose idea of bein' uptown was drinkin' beer outta bottles that you had use a bottle opener to get the cap off." He laughed.

"You two weren't all bad. You both had redeeming qualities. Like you didn't make me pay rent." She teased him.

"I see how it is." He shook his head and consulted the clock. "Maddie! Get a move on it's time for breakfast. You don't wanna be late."

Maddie came into the room dressed and ready for school. She looked confused when she saw her mother sitting at the table. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Maddie, I'm a grown pregnant woman. Do I need a reason to spend the night with my boyfriend now?" Rayna asked her in reply. She'd meant what she'd said last night about not keeping secrets anymore.

"But dad said…" Maddie stammered out.

"I told you the truth. We are together, but it is messy and it is complicated. It's not always gonna be pretty. As a matter of fact of it's gonna get downright ugly and unpleasant at times, but we are together." Deacon added.

"It's more than just messy and complicated. There's a whole lot of water under that bridge. Maddie, I've loved your dad since I was just a little bit older than you are now. We've put each other through hell, but through it all we've still loved each other. Our love isn't something that's always a fairytale. Passion is double edged sword for us. We love hard and we fight hard." Rayna caught herself just in time to keep from saying that they fought hard and they fucked hard.

"Maddie, have a seat and help yourself to some breakfast." Deacon had gone all out for breakfast this morning because it was rare that he had Maddie with him on a school night. He carried a plate of sausage over to the table to go with the eggs, bacon, hash browns, and French toast he'd already made.

"Wow, this looks amazing." Maddie smiled.

"Only the best for my girls." He kissed her head and took a seat.

"If you keep this up you just might have a full time roommate." Maddie teased him.

"Maddie, do not wish that on yourself. You have no idea how trying it can be to live with your dad sometimes. He makes a mess and he doesn't clean up after himself." Rayna warned her.

"That's enough out of you. Both of you eat." He shook his head at them.

"I think you like living with him a little too much." Maddie's eyes went to her mother's growing baby bump.

Deacon's eyes got wide. "Didn't I just outlaw this topic of conversation last night?"

"You only said that I couldn't talk about it with you. You didn't say anything about talking about it with mom." Maddie smirked.

Rayna threw her head back and laughed. "She just hit her teenaged years, babe. It's only getting started for us you should get used to it. This is our punishment for everything we put daddy through."

"God I hope not. I know what we were like during our teenage years." He shivered at the thought. He knew the things that Rayna had been doing with him and he didn't want to think about some boy talking his little girl into doing those same things. "Aren't you gonna eat, babe?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna eat. I can eat all the salty food that I want your son just doesn't like anything sweet that I eat." Rayna explained to him.

"In other words he takes after me and not after you. You are the reason that there is a hidden candy drawer on the tour bus." He informed her seriously.

"Wait a minute there's candy on the tour bus that I don't know about? Where is it?" Rayna questioned.

"I can't tell you that, darlin'. The band has a pact that we won't tell you where it is." He dug into his breakfast.

"I don't know why you're so fond of your daddy. Do you hear this?" Rayna addressed the question at Maddie.

"Mom, if there was some place in the house that I could hide candy from you I would. If you know about it you don't stop until it's gone." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"I swear I don't know what I'm gonna do with you. I suppose that this is my punishment for keeping you two away from each other. You turned out just like him. I guess I needed the reminder of who your father was every time I looked at you." Rayna shook her head.

Deacon ate in silence he wasn't really sure how to respond to that comment. "I can't wait for that boy to get here all these women are gonna be the death of me." He mumbled.

"Aw, babe, we aren't that bad." Rayna pinched his cheek.

"You ain't that great all the time either." He muttered.

"Is this the ugly part you two were just talking about?" Maddie looked between her parents.

"No, this isn't us fighting if we were really fighting you would know it." Rayna assured her.

"If we were really fighting the whole neighborhood would know it. Though it wouldn't be the first time this house has seen one of our fights." Deacon added.

"It wouldn't be close to the first time and it wouldn't be the last either. A relationship is hard enough when both parties are stable for the lack of a better word. It's that much harder when you both have fiery personalities. He's a hothead and I'm a stubborn mule when I want to be. That doesn't make for the easiest time, but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world." Rayna winked at him.

"If you two are gonna be gross like this I don't think that I'm gonna be able to take it." Maddie made a gagging sound.

"She's just so wonderful sometimes she gets it from you." Rayna gave Deacon a look.

"You're not blamin' that entirely on me. You had somethin' to do with it too." He pointed out to her. "Maddie, if you're finished eatin' we need to get goin' we don't wanna be late. Or rather I don't wanna be late. Your momma is always makin' me late for somethin'."

"I'm ready, dad. Just let me go grab my backpack and then we can go." Maddie got up and went to retrieve her backpack.

Deacon stood up and pecked Rayna's lips. "I'm gonna get this one to school and then I will be right back."

"Wake me up when you get back I fully intend on taking a nap on the couch." Rayna replied.

"I will see you when I get back have a good nap." He bent down and kissed her belly. "You be good for momma. Daddy will be back soon and then we will go into the office for a couple of hours and deal with your crazy Aunt Tandy and your poor Uncle Bucky."

"Just get her to school, babe." Rayna laughed.

"I'm goin' I'll be back soon." He kissed her again and threw his arm around Maddie's shoulders.

* * *

Rayna stood in her closest looking for something to wear that would actually fit her.

"Babe, what are you doing in there?" Tandy called out to her from the bed.

"I'm looking for something to wear." Rayna called back. She needed to go shopping for maternity clothes and she knew it. The only problem was the minute that she did it would be all over the media.

"It's just dinner with Deacon I don't know what you're making a big deal out of this for. It's not like he's gonna care what you're wearing or you're going to be wearing it long knowing the two of you as well as I do." Tandy rolled her eyes at the thought. Those two never did seem to learn their lesson.

"It's not that I'm worried about having dinner with Deacon it's that he asked me to meet him up at the cabin. That means he's ready to talk. The fact that's he's ready for this talk and I'm not scares the hell out of me." Rayna replied.

"You two are gonna have to talk about it sooner or later. It's all in or all out with you there is no in between." Tandy pointed out to her.

"We don't have to talk about this. One of the things that Deacon and I are very good at is not talking about our problems. We can bury them and carry on like nothing is wrong." Rayna's voice was a bit muffled that meant she had moved deeper into her closet.

"You owe it to that baby boy you're carrying to get things sorted out with his father." Tandy reminded her.

"I know that, but if we talk about it, it makes this real and we have to deal with it. We will pop the bubble that we have been living in and we will probably have a knock down drag out fight." Rayna came out of the closet wearing a pair of Deacon's jeans and one of his t-shirts. It was comfortable and it fit.

"It's no different than when you were pregnant with Maddie. I know that you two can go on forever without actually having a meaningful conversation. But it's not fair to Maddie or the baby for you two to be hanging out in the state of limbo that you're in. They need their parents to have their shit together." Tandy tried to reason with her. "Is that what you're wearing?" She looked her sister up and down.

"I know that I really do, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to get into it with him." Rayna shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, this is what I'm wearing. Like you said it's Deacon he's not gonna care what I have on. He's not really big on formalities."

"You need to go shopping for maternity clothes. You're not gonna be able to put that off for much longer." Tandy told her.

"I know that's another thing I'm putting off because I don't want to give the tabloids any fodder for some sensational story." Rayna started throwing clothes into a bag.

"You're gonna leave this behind?" Tandy held up a sexy black nighty.

"Lingerie really isn't my style. That's something left over from when I was trying to make things work with Teddy and you know how that worked out. Besides that, Deacon's favorite thing on me is nothing or nothing, but one of his t-shirts." Rayna skipped on taking the lingerie with her.

"What you see in him I will never know." Tandy groaned. "You're only supposed to be going up there for dinner why are you taking three days' worth of clothes with you?"

"Because once Deacon and I start talking it can go on for awhile and I have no intentions of driving back home tonight. It's a little bit of a drive up to the cabin and I really should think about getting on the road." Rayna retorted.

"I should trust him to feed you why? This man's idea of fine cuisine is eating spaghetti out of the can." Tandy rolled her eyes again.

"Tandy, he's actually a very good cook. He's better at it than I am. I need to go. I don't want to be stuck in traffic." Rayna threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Just be careful and make good decisions." Tandy called after her.

* * *

Deacon was out back splitting firewood when Rayna pulled into the driveway.

"You're just as good at that now as you were when you first bought the place." Rayna said from the back porch.

"I must have been in a zone I didn't hear you pull up." He smiled up at her.

"You were. As a matter of fact, I was standing here for a little while watching you before I said anything and you didn't even notice." She smiled back at him.

He gathered up an armful of firewood and walked up on the back porch. He paused to steal a kiss from her. "Did you like what you saw?" He walked into the cabin.

"Darlin', I didn't just like it I loved it." She smirked and followed him inside.

He dropped the wood in a pile beside the fireplace. "Come on in and make yourself at home."

She looked around the cabin and everything was still the same as it was the last time she had been here. Deacon wasn't one to change anything unless someone made him. It was comforting to her to know that he hadn't changed their dream house. "It still looks the same as it did the morning I dropped that ring at your feet."

"I wish like hell that I could remember that. Not the part where you gave the ring back, but the part where we made our little girl." He shrugged his shoulders.

"So, we are just gonna get right into this talk without any foreplay." She quipped.

"I think we've put this off for as long as we can and we need to talk 'bout it now whether we want to or not." He replied.

"You're right and I know you are." She could admit that to him, but she wouldn't to anyone else.

"So, why'd you do it Ray? Why am I good enough to be his daddy when I wasn't good enough to be Maddie's daddy?" He asked her the question that had been on the tip of his tongue for weeks.

"Deacon, you have to understand what you were like back then. The things you can't remember because you were blackout drunk are the things that I will never forget. I honestly thought that you were going to drink yourself to death. You were in no position to take care of yourself much less a child who was gonna depend on you for everything." She told him.

"Here's my problem with that. I got clean and I got sober. She wasn't that old when I got out of rehab the last time. You could have told me. Would I have been pissed off? Hell yeah, but we could have worked it out. You didn't even give me the chance to prove myself you just took the choice out of my hands." He argued with her.

"How was I supposed to know that your fifth time in rehab was gonna be the one that stuck. I would have been waiting for you to get out the fifth time just like I had been the other four times if I hadn't been pregnant. I had to think of our little girl and what was best for her. At the time it sure as hell wasn't you." She argued back.

"There were so many other times that you could have told me. You didn't have to let me be alone with her until you were sure that I could be trusted with her, but you could have told me. The bitch part of it was you hired me back into your band and you damn near forced her on me, but you couldn't tell me that I was her daddy." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I wanted to tell you, Deacon. The hardest part of seeing how good you were with her was knowing she was yours and you didn't know it. I couldn't tell you that she was yours though because I promised Teddy that I wouldn't. He was a good father to her and a dependable husband to me. I couldn't hurt him that way." Rayna threw herself down on the couch.

"But it was ok to hurt me and Maddie? He had no right to tell you that you had to keep my daughter from me. Every time I think 'bout him doin' that and then thinkin' he still gets to call the shots it makes me wanna put my fist through his face." Deacon seethed.

"Babe, please, I didn't want to hurt you. I wanted to protect our daughter. Deep down some rational part of you has to understand that." She pleaded with him.

"I understand you wantin' to protect our daughter. The key words in that sentence were our daughter though ours not Teddy's or Tandy's or anyone else's she's ours. No one else should have had a say or factored into your decision." His voice rose a little bit. He didn't want to upset her or put anymore stress on her, but he needed to get this off his chest.

"I didn't know what else to do, Deacon. You were a mess and I was terrified. Everyone else painted a really pretty picture and I let myself be talked into it." She could admit that much. There were so many times she had almost told him about Maddie and then chickened out at the last second.

"Would you have told me if she hadn't found the DNA test?" That question had been in the back of his mind since he found out Maddie was his.

"Yes, I was gonna tell you. I didn't know how to tell you, but I was gonna tell you. More importantly I didn't know how to tell her. When is the right time to blow your child's life up?" She argued with him some more.

"Here's a thought don't build your child's life on a lie and then you won't have to worry 'bout blowin' it up!" He was starting to lose his cool.

"Really, Deacon? We are gonna go to this place right now?" She rested her hand protectively on her stomach.

"Right there, that right there is why I have been puttin' this talk off." He pointed to her belly. "I didn't want to put anymore stress on him than he's already been under. The thing of it is though I owe it to him to come into this world without me hatin' his momma a little bit."

"You think you hate me for what I did, well I hate you for puttin' us in that position to begin with. All I wanted to do was raise her up with you and give her a lovin' home. I couldn't give her that with you though." She closed her eyes to fight off the tears.

"I didn't put us in any position I got sober. Own up to why you did, Ray. Don't try to pass the blame off on me. At first it was on me I can admit that much, but after you saw that rehab had stuck it landed squarely on you." Deacon wasn't letting her off the hook that easily. He deserved a real reason.

"Because I was tired, Deacon. I was tired and scared and a little bit relieved to have you out of my life. If I wasn't involved with you then I wouldn't have to be around to watch you drink yourself to death." Rayna sighed.

"And that would have made sense if you had just let me go, but instead you kept me around." He clenched his jaw.

"I kept you 'round because I didn't want to rob you and Maddie of the chance to know each other. I always knew the day would come that you found out about her. I just always thought she would be older and we could talk about it like adults. I thought that you would both hear the words from my mouth at the very least you deserved that." She looked down at her feet as the tears filled her eyes.

"But, why, Ray? Did you not believe in me anymore or were you just sick of me and didn't want to be tied to me for another eighteen years?" He rubbed his hands over his face.

"I never stopped believing in you. I stopped believing in myself, babe. I didn't think I could do it anymore. I didn't think that I could be strong enough. I'd already asked myself numerous times why I wasn't enough to keep you sober I never wanted her to ask herself that same question." She finally admitted to what she had been holding onto for thirteen years. He was right the blame for the situation wasn't on him it was on her.

"You're the strongest person that I know and I did that to you. I made you doubt yourself and me in the process. I never meant for it to be like that. I became the one person that I despise the most in this world, my father." He sighed loudly.

"Deacon, you're not your father. Jesus Christ, babe, I'm so sorry. I should have just told you about her. That's the thing I regret the most in this world. I will go to my grave regretting that I hurt two of the people I love the most. This is exactly what I didn't want to do, but I did it anyway." She broke down crying.

Deacon pulled her into his arms. "Come here, baby. I won't tell you that it's ok 'cause it's not, but it's gonna be ok. I won't even say that I forgive you 'cause I haven't yet, but I get closer everyday. It's in the past and we can't change that, but we can move forward as a family. That's what I want more than anythin'."

Rayna cried into his chest and nodded her head. "I want that too. And if it helps any I haven't forgiven myself either. I didn't just do this to you and Maddie I did it to myself too. I kept us from being a family like we always should have been."

"Baby, it ain't all on you. I drove you to it. I will accept my share of the blame. I know that I did wrong and I put you through more than any person should be put through for someone they love. I won't ever forgive myself for makin' you doubt yourself. You've always been so much stronger than everyone else and I destroyed your confidence." He kissed her head.

"Can we just agree to move on together and make it work from here?" She looked up at him.

"I'm in if you are." He agreed.

"I'm in, babe." She didn't hesitate.

"I was hopin' you'd say that." He smiled down at her.

"Now, that we've discussed that. There is something else that we need to talk about." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What's that?" He could tell he wasn't going to like where this conversation was going.

"I need to get maternity clothes and get of your jeans and t-shirts. The thing is the minute I do that the press is gonna be all over it. So, we are gonna have to issue a statement. I know that I like to keep our private life private and so do you, but this has to be done. That way they will leave us alone." She reasoned with him.

"Ok, I can live with that, but we have to find a way for me to be Maddie's daddy in public too. I'm so sick of pretendin' that she's not mine, Ray. Like I told you I'm so proud of her and I want to be able to show that to the world. I don't wanna just be Uncle Deacon or her guitar teacher." He put his arms around her waist.

"I told you that we will find a way to make it happen. As much as you don't like it I will have to give Teddy a head's up first." She replied.

"I think I can learn to live with that. Or even better how 'bout this? It's none of anyone's damn business. If they start askin' questions we answer them, but no one else matters in this situation." He suggested.

"I really love the way you think sometimes. I have an image to protect and I know you don't wanna air our dirty laundry to the world." She could see his point, but it wasn't quite that simple.

"We will figure it out we always do. We do our best together." He kissed her lips gently.

"I'm not gonna argue with that." She leaned her forehead against his. "Speaking of our best work. Your son is hungry did you plan on feeding us?"

He chuckled softly. "That was the plan. I have chili on the stove I've just been waitin' on you like always."

"I don't hear you complaining too much about it you must like it." She teased him.

"Darlin', you are always more than worth the wait." He stole another kiss from her and smiled against her lips.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 11

Rayna and Deacon walked up to the tent where artists were supposed to check in for the music festival Teddy was holding. They had just drove back into town from the cabin the night before. They hadn't worked through all their issues yet, but they were on the right path.

"Hi, I'm Deacon Claybourne and I'm one of the artists preformin'." Deacon introduced himself to one of the people handling check ins.

"Mr. Claybourne, your name isn't on the list." The worker checked the list again. "As a matter of fact it says here that you backed out."

"That's impossible I didn't call to back out." Deacon argued.

"It says here that the mayor confirmed it himself." The worker replied.

"Alright, thanks for your time." Deacon worked his bottom lip between his teeth and turned away. "Damn him. I can't believe that he did this. Part of me does believe it, but the other part of me doesn't wanna think that he could be so petty and childish." He spoke through gritted teeth his barely contained rage bubbling just under the surface.

"Don't worry, babe, I'll handle this." Rayna assured him. She pulled out her phone. "Teddy, it's Rayna I need you to meet me at the check in."

"Rayna, I'm kind of busy right now. This is my music festival I can't just step away." Came Teddy's reply from the other end of the line.

"I promise to make this fast. I just need you to meet me here." Rayna told him patiently.

"Ok, fine, I will be right there." Teddy sighed and hung up in her ear.

"This misunderstanding will be cleared up shortly." Rayna turned back to Deacon.

"Really, Ray? You think this was just some misunderstandin'?" Deacon arched his eyebrow.

"Darlin', was there a turnip truck that just rolled through here that you think I fell off of? Of course I know that this isn't a simple misunderstanding, but I also know that he's gonna do whatever the hell I ask him to do. He really doesn't wanna mess with me right now. It's not advisable under normal circumstances. It's even less so with all the hormones I have coursing through my system right now." Rayna plastered a fake smile on her face.

"I'll let you handle this then." Deacon replied.

"I know you will, because you're the one who has to deal with me behind closed doors and God help you if you step out of line and do something stupid, sugar, 'cause no one else will be able to." She patted his cheek gently. After the number of times he'd expressed his desire to put his fist through Teddy's face she thought it would be for the best if she gave him a warning.

"Whatever you say, darlin'." He crossed his arms over his chest. He knew from experience that it was just better to do as she said and not have to pay the piper for it later.

Teddy strolled up a few minutes later. "Rayna, what can I do for you today?" He asked his ex-wife cordially.

"You can explain to me why these people think you confirmed Deacon dropping out of this festival." Rayna told him bluntly. She wasn't about to waste time on pleasantries.

"I'm sure that some paperwork just got lost in the shuffle and this can be cleared up with no problem." Teddy replied. He knew that she was just being nice because they were in public. He recognized the look she had on her face.

"Teddy, don't play dumb with me. We both know why you did it, just fix it." Rayna stared him down. "This is a really great example you're setting for the girls. I told you once already that Deacon is Maddie's father too and he's not going anywhere you need to get that through your head now. If you wanna continue to see her so freely you're gonna have to get on board with that or like I said he will go nuclear and there ain't a thing I can do to stop him. You don't want that and neither do I." She added lowly.

"Ok, so I did a childish thing because my pride was hurt sue me. At least I didn't almost get you killed like your current lover did. But I forgot you can forgive him anything he does because he's Deacon Claybourne and you are just plain stupid when it comes to him sometimes." Teddy whispered back.

"Watch yourself, Teddy. It's really not wise for you to fuck with me right now. He's the father of my children too. Don't think for a second I'd let him get away with some petulant stunt either. The only difference is there is a pretty clear end in sight for you. You only have to deal with me for another seven or eight years really. He has another eighteen years and I can make his life hell." Rayna spoke in a harsh whisper.

"What are talking about? Oh my God, you really do learn your lessons the hard way. You let him get you pregnant again. This time I'm not going to be there to bail you out when he lets you down yet again." Teddy gave a derisive snort.

"Teddy, I'm not interested in playing this game with you. Just get Deacon his spot back and don't worry about what I do in my personal life. You don't get a say anymore. I haven't said anything about your wife and believe me I could say a mouthful if I wanted to. You don't like him and he doesn't like you, but I'm telling you both right here and now that you need to find some common ground and a way to get along. With the way you two like to tie up fighting Maddie is thinking seriously about not spending time with either of you. Grow up and get it together." Rayna laid down the law.

"I'll take care of it." Teddy finally relented with a sigh. He walked over to the registration table and talked to the worker.

"I didn't even say anythin' what are you gettin' on to me for?" Deacon asked.

"I wasn't getting on to you I was just letting you both know at the same time that way neither of you can say I didn't tell you. And you've been on your best behavior I will give you that, but that just gives you a little more incentive not to slip." She shrugged her shoulders.

Teddy walked back over carrying a pass and a packet of papers. He thrust them into Rayna's hand. "He's on the riverfront stage at seven make sure he gets there on time. I need to get back to the girls." He didn't tell Deacon directly, because he didn't trust himself to talk to him at the moment. He started to walk away.

"You know, Teddy, I can't thank you for what you did it just wasn't your place. But I can thank you for lovin' her." Deacon thought under the circumstances it wouldn't kill him to be the bigger man.

Teddy looked back at him, but he walked away without saying a word.

Rayna slipped her arm around Deacon's waist. "I know how hard that was for you and I'm proud of you, babe."

"We got some time to kill, what do you say we give the press somethin' to talk 'bout and go do some shoppin' for those maternity clothes you said you need?" Deacon wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"I think that sounds like a damn fine idea." She smiled up at him.

"We can also get some food in you and that boy. If that little display or your temper was any indication, it's been too long since you last ate. I can't be havin' a cranky pregnant woman to deal with and prepare for a show too." He teased her.

"You should know that the same hormones that cause all the crying and the crankiness are the ones that also make me really horny." She smirked.

"Well, now we just may have to make a stop at the house too if that's the case." He laughed.

"Darlin', I might make you wait until tonight. I don't know if you've been good enough. It'll depend on how you behave while we're shopping. I know how much you hate that." She elbowed him in the ribs playfully.

* * *

An hour into shopping for maternity clothes and Deacon started to realize the grave error in judgment he had made. He sat in a chair outside the changing room with a pile of clothes in his lap. He knew he hated shopping with her for a reason, but he was so eager to be a part of this pregnancy that he forgot how long she took to pick out outfits and how hard she was to please.

"What do you think of this one?" Rayna stepped out of the dressing room wearing yet another outfit.

"I think that it looks fine just like the last ten or so outfits that you've tried on. I don't think you'll end up wearin' half the stuff you have picked out, but if it makes you feel better go for it, babe." He replied.

"Just fine? Don't you find me attractive anymore?" Her bottom lip quivered.

"Now, baby, you know that I do. You can't possibly think that. To me you're always the most attractive woman in the room no matter where we are. I'm obviously way too attracted to you." He poured on the charm. He found that was the best way to get her through her crying jags.

Her face lit up at his words and she had to wipe a tear away from her eye. "You are too perfect for words sometimes. What do you say we just get everything that I picked out and go get some food?" She asked.

"That would be good, Ray. I can't think of anythin' thing else I rather do right now." He smiled up at her.

"I'm just gonna go change I will be right back." She bent down and pecked his lips.

"I'll be here." He rubbed his nose against hers.

Rayna returned a few minutes later. After the two of them argued over who was going to pay they finally got out of there and on their way.

Maddie fidgeted around and checked her phone. Teddy had stuck her and Daphne with Peggy while he went and did whatever it was he had to do as mayor. She really, really didn't like her dad's new wife. She also made no secret of that. It was just the way she tried to step in and mother them it drove her absolutely crazy. That and she was a teenage girl too who already had one mother to rebel against she didn't need another one.

Her face lit up when she saw that Deacon would be on stage soon. She stood up from her seat glad to have an excuse to get away from Peggy.

"Deacon is going on stage soon and I want to go see him before he goes on." Maddie announced.

"Sweetie, that's not a good idea you should stay put. Your dad is going to want his whole family together for this." Peggy told her.

"He's my family too I want to go see him." Maddie argued.

"I'm going to have to insist that you stay here." Peggy replied.

"Don't tell me what to do you're not my mother. I already have enough parents I don't need another." Maddie snapped.

"There's no need for you to be rude." Peggy spoke calmly.

"Whatever," Maddie made a show of rolling her eyes. She started to walk off.

"Where do you think you're going?" Peggy asked.

"I'm going to the bathroom. Or is that against the rules now too?" Maddie challenged her.

"Just be fast." Peggy replied.

"Maddie, wait, I wanna go with you." Daphne jumped up to join her sister.

"Come on, Daph, let's go." Maddie held her hand out to her.

Daphne too her hand and walked off with her.

Teddy returned to the stands a few minutes later. There was a puzzled look on his face when he didn't see either of his daughters. "Where are the girls?" He inquired. He took a seat beside his wife.

"They just went to the bathroom they will be right back." Peggy smiled at him.

He shook his head. "Go figure, I will never understand women's need to go to the bathroom in groups."

"Just think soon you'll have little Teddy here to keep you company and keep you from being the odd man out in a house full of women." Peggy took his hand and placed it on her stomach. She still hadn't thought out how she was going to work around the fact she'd lost the baby, but she'd come up with something soon.

* * *

"Hey, thank you guys for showin' up on such short notice like this. Ray's band is all scattered to the wind right now and I didn't know how else I was gonna make this happen." Deacon shook hands with Gunnar and Avery.

"No problem, man, I'm happy to help." Avery replied.

"Don't mention it you'd do the same thing for me." Gunnar said.

"Ya'll just go on over and get your guitars out and start gettin' ready. We go on in 'bout ten more minutes." Deacon told them.

"Alright, sounds good." Avery said. He and Gunnar walked off to go get ready.

Rayna walked over to him carrying something in her hand. "Here are your ears, babe." She handed the monitors to him.

"Thanks, baby," Deacon took them and put them around his neck. He stole a kiss from her after he had finished. "Love you,"

"Love you too," Rayna put both her hands on his chest and rubbed it. "I can't wait to get you back to the house and get you alone later."

"I've only been thinkin' 'bout the same thing all day. We just have to make it through my set and then we have to go on with Luke and we are out of here." He grinned.

"We have to check out Will and Scarlett's sets too." She reminded him.

"I know we do. What kind of label heads would we be if we neglected our artists?" He wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Mom! Deacon!"

They both turned around when they heard their names being called.

"Well, lookie here what I found." Deacon pulled both girls into a hug before sending them to their mother.

"Hi, my girls, what are you two doing over here?" Rayna kissed both of their heads.

"I wanted to see Deacon before he went on." Maddie answered.

"I just tagged along. I thought we were going to the bathroom." Daphne giggled.

Rayna arched her eyebrow and sent a look in Deacon's direction. "Where's your dad?"

"I don't know he was off doing something and he left us with Peggy." Maddie shrugged and rolled her eyes.

Deacon took the hint. "I'm goin' on here in a minute. Why don't ya'll come help me get ready?"

"We'd love that." Daphne answered for them both.

"That's what I like to hear." Deacon put an arm around each of them and went over to unpack his guitar. "We've talked 'bout you runnin' off, Maddie. You promised me you weren't gonna do it anymore. It's really dangerous. You have three public figures for parents and someone could take advantage of that."

"I know and I'm sorry, but Peggy wasn't going to let me come see you otherwise." Maddie explained herself.

He took a moment to fight off his knee jerk reaction to hearing that news. "You gotta let someone know where you're gonna be. It's not ok for you two to be wonderin' 'round alone. I love you girls so much and it'd kill me and your momma if anythin' happened to either of you. So both ya'll promise me that you ain't gonna do this again."

"Ok, I promise." Maddie sighed.

"I promise too." Daphne chirped.

"That's my girls." He smiled at them.

Rayna stood with her arms crossed when Teddy walked up. "There you are."

"Here I am, where are the girls?" Teddy asked.

"They are over with Deacon helping him get ready." She answered him.

"I'm sorry about this. They were supposed to go to the bathroom and come right back. They kind of ran off on Peggy." He replied evenly.

"Where were you, Teddy? Those girls are your responsibility. They are nine and thirteen. Who let's two girls that little wander off by themselves?" She tried her best to keep her temper under control.

"Don't go there, Rayna. You know that Maddie has something against Peggy anyway. And don't act like you haven't left them alone with Deacon countless times over the years." He didn't want to fight with her, but it seemed that was all they did when it came to Maddie.

"He's been with them their whole lives and he doesn't take his eyes off of them. I don't wanna fight with you anymore. I've accepted Peggy not that I had to or you needed me to. Now you need to accept the fact that Deacon isn't goin' anywhere and he wouldn't do anythin' to hurt those girls." She leveled with him.

"It'll take me awhile to get there, but I can try. We have to get along for their sake. And I guess I can talk to Peggy about the Deacon thing. Maddie wanted to see him and she told her no. I think the harder I fight to hold on to her the harder she's gonna fight to be with him." He relented.

"Teddy, you just have to trust that this doesn't mean she loves you any less. He's always been there, but they don't know each other that way yet and she has every right to want to know him and know more about herself. It's still new to all of us we have to give it time, but I promise you you're not gonna lose her. I just know that if you keep bein' so dead set against her havin' a relationship with him she will push you away and she will rebel. She gets that from him and she gets it from me, so she got a double dose." She offered him a small smile.

"I think it's you more so than him she gets that from. I never could tell you what to do I always had to make it think it was your idea if I wanted you to do it." He laughed softly.

"What can I say? She had good breeding." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Do the girls know that you're, you know?" He looked down at her bump.

"Pregnant? You can say the word. Yes, they know I think they are excited. Daphne is anyway. Maddie she's a teenager now if I don't get a grunt, a that sucks, or an eye roll I take it to mean that she doesn't hate the idea." She replied.

"Is Tandy still ok to take the girls tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know that you have a late night here and Deacon and I have plans. Beside that all three of them of looking forward to it. Apparently they have all kind of things planned. She will be by to get them shortly. I can send them back with you if you want." She told him.

"No, she wants to see Deacon play I guess it's time that I get with the program and stop trying to keep her from what makes her happy. He was right it's worth it just to keep that smile on her face." He shook his head. He finally resigned himself to his new fate.

"She's lucky to have both ya'll. She knows that she just needs him right now. Doesn't make her any less yours or diminish the role you've played in her life." She touched his arm affectionately.

"I'm starting to see that." He agreed with her.

"Dad, oh my gosh, Deacon is like the coolest ever. Did you know he knows like everyone?" Daphne gushed when she walked over with Deacon and Maddie.

"I'd say that's a little exaggeration, Daphne." Deacon laughed.

"It is pretty cool that you know Brantley Gilbert." Maddie said.

"We play in some of the same circles that's all." Deacon replied.

"Maddie, next time you want to see Deacon just say that I was getting worried about you and Daphne." Teddy told her.

"Sorry, dad, I know I shouldn't run off like that." Maddie apologized.

"It's ok, now, you girls come give me a hug. You're gonna hang out here for a little bit until it's time to go with Aunt Tandy. I will see you later." Teddy hugged both the girls.

"Bye, dad, I love you." Daphne hugged him back.

"See you later, dad, love you." Maddie returned the hug.

"I love you both too. I should get back to Peggy." Teddy waved at him before he walked away.

Rayna put an arm around each other her daughters. "Come on, Deacon, is almost on let's go stand by the side of the stage and watch him."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"You came back alone?" Peggy questioned when Teddy reclaimed his seat beside her.

"I did, sometimes it's just not worth it to fight with the moody teenager. If I fight her too hard I may lose her forever and I don't want that." He replied.

"Do you not realize how this makes you look to your constituents? It looks like your ex-wife still calls all the shots when it comes to your family." She went off on a tirade.

"I don't care how it looks. I just care that my daughter is happy. This isn't about me this is about her. You don't understand that yet, but you will. I'm in a really precarious position. I don't actually have custody of Maddie anymore Deacon does. If I don't play the game right I could lose her." He informed her.

"I'm just telling you how it may look on the outside." She hugged his arm.

"I'm not too worried about it. I'm sure that everything will be fine." He assured her.

* * *

"I just want to get out of these damn shoes." Rayna groaned when they walked into her house. She grabbed onto Deacon's arm and took her heels off.

"I know this may be a sore subject with ya, but you ain't gonna be able to wear those for much longer. I don't think you should really be wearin' 'em now. All the books say that you should wear flat shoes cause they are better for your feet and back." Deacon replied. He put his hand over his mouth when he realized what he'd said.

"What books? Deacon, are you readin' baby books?" She teased him.

He blushed bright red. He opened up his guitar case and took a baby book out of it. The pages were marked with different colored tabs. "I am; you just best not go tellin' anyone that."

She took the book out of his hand and put it back in his guitar case. She wrapped her arms around his neck and barely brushed her lips against his. "I find it incredibly sweet and sexy. I've wanted you all day, but I really want you now. Take me, babe." She pressed her hips against his. She felt his member harden against her thigh.

He crashed his lips down on hers before he pulled her shirt over her head. "I've been waitin' all day for this too. There ain't no way I'm makin' it up to the bedroom for this round anyway."

She quickly undid the buttons on his shirt and kissed his chest. "I ain't gonna argue with that." She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and pulled his belt out of his jeans.

He kicked his boots off with practiced ease while he unhooked her bra. He kissed down her neck and took first one of her nipples in his mouth and then the other. He sucked until two hard points stuck out from her chest. "It's been awhile since we have done it anywhere other than your bedroom." By awhile he meant however long it had been since the last time they stayed over at her place. He undid the button on her jeans and pushed them down her long legs.

She held on to his shoulders for support and kicked her jeans off. "We better spread out while we can without the girls here." She unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down. She couldn't wait to feel him inside her. They'd just had sex, but it seemed like it had been way too long.

He pulled his boxers off and all but ripped her panties off of her. He walked her backwards to the couch and laid her down gently. "Darlin', all I care 'bout right now is do you wanna be on top or do you want me on top?"

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck again and grinned up at him seductively. "I want you to take charge, babe." She bit her lip.

He didn't have to be told twice he entered her in one fluid motion pushing his turgid dick all the way into her wet pussy to the hilt. They both let out a loud moan of contentment. Almost right away he started to thrust in and out of her long and deep. There was no need to let her adjust tonight she was ready for him.

She wrapped her long legs around his waist the heels of her feet digging into the taut flesh of his ass. "Oh God yes, babe, fuck me!" She cried out. She moved her arms from around his neck and dug her fingernails into his back.

He was more than happy to oblige her and he started to pound into her. "Fuck, Ray. Damn you feel so fuckin' good, baby." He reached between them and rubbed her clit with the calloused pad of his thumb.

"Mmm, there's no way I'm gonna last much longer if you keep doin' that." Her words came out in a breathy moan.

"That's ok, babe, I won't be far behind ya. But that don't mean I don't plan on makin' you come more than once tonight." He bit and sucked at her neck gently.

Sure enough a moment later all the muscles in her body went rigid and her walls clamped down around him. She let out a loud moan and held on to him for dear life. Just as she started to recover from that orgasm she felt another one take over.

He pressed his lips against hers. "Shit, baby, I'm gonna come." He panted out before he emptied his load into her.

They laid there in each other's arms basking in the afterglow of the amazing sex they'd just had.

Rayna threaded her fingers through the back of Deacon's hair. "Damn, baby, I'm still gettin' used to the fact that you always give me multiple orgasms. I don't know what I missed more you or sex with you."

"I always was good at that. Hell, Ray, I have you spoiled. I taught you all 'bout sex. Damn I had myself spoiled. I was your first and I never did find any woman that measured up to you in the bedroom. That should tell you how good you are." Deacon rubbed his beard against her cheek.

"You did spoil me that's for sure and now I'm never letting you go use that particular set of talents with another woman ever again. You're stuck with me for life this time, so you just better get used to that." She giggled softly.

"That's all I ever wanted. Last year I asked you somethin' and I wonder if that's still true. If you had it to do all over again what would you change?" He asked.

"Nothing and everything. My answer is still the same. I wouldn't change the music or all the magic we've made together, but I would damn sure change the fact that I kept your daughter from you. Knowin' what I know now I'd go through it all again if it meant I got to end up here in this moment with you." She smiled up at him.

He kissed along her jawline and brushed his lips against her ear. "Ray, I forgive you." He whispered.

"Yeah?" Her eyes filled with tears.

"Yeah, I ain't sayin' there still ain't gonna be times when I get mad or sad 'bout it, but I forgive you. More than anythin' I want us to be a family. It's time to put this behind us and move forward. You were scared and I ain't mad at you for that. I can't keep carryin' that 'round and neither can you. Let yourself off the hook, baby. We have now and now is pretty damn good." He kissed both of her cheeks, her forehead, and finally her lips.

"Deacon, I didn't think it was possible, but I love you more now than I did all those years ago." She wiped a tear away.

"I love you too, Ray, more than you will ever know." He kissed her and started rocking his hips again gently.

This time they made slow passionate love before moving to the bedroom for round three.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. Since we don't have Luke around to cause drama I decided to keep Crazy Peggy around for a little while longer to shake some things up. #BringBackNashville Until next time please review.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 12

"How'd you score us this CMT interview on such short notice?" Deacon button up his red shirt with pearl snaps on it.

"I haven't done an interview since the accident and all the press outlets have been trying to get me to do an exclusive. I figured I may as well give it to a local source that's about the music and we can announce this pregnancy at the same time." Rayna looked at him from her vanity.

"That sounds good to me. You know what's gonna work best here." He checked his hair in the mirror.

"Plus, I'm been getting all kinda questions about the fact that you and I are co-owners of Highway Sixty-five. We just get it all out in the open with this interview and then we have nothing to worry about." She rubbed her belly lovingly.

He sat down on the end of the bed and slipped his feet into his boots. "I'm gonna have to go home today. I think I've just exhausted my supply of clothes."

"We could just stop by there and get you some more clothes, babe. I don't like when you go home I miss you too much and I have no one to get up in the middle of the night for me and get me the food I'm craving." She fixed a sexy pout on her face.

"Don't you look at me like that. You lookin' at me like that is what got us in this position to begin with. You are too damn sexy for your own good, baby." He bit his lip and resisted the strong urge he had to take her right then and there.

"From what I remember about biology it takes a lot more than a look to end up pregnant." She pointed out to him. She had to fight to keep her hormones under control or she would have her way with him.

"With us everythin' that leads to what makes a baby starts with a look." He corrected her. "So, where are we doin' this interview? Our offices aren't even close to ready yet."

"We are gonna do it at Sound Check. It made sense to me to do it there." She retorted.

"That sounds like a plan to me. That is your area to take care of anyway, partner." He winked at her.

Rayna applied a final coat of gloss to her lips and stood up. "Let's get going. You're the one that complains I always make us late." She reached for his hand. She wore a black blazer over her white silk top to cover her growing baby bump.

"Cause you're always makin' us late." He took her hand and walked her out to his truck. He opened the door for her before he went around to the driver's side and got in.

"And yet you still stick around. You must really like it." She smirked at him.

"It's the price of bein' with you. I rather be with you than ever be on time for anythin'." He came back.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You are too damn sweet when you want to be."

"I just like lettin' you know how special you are to me." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Rayna, Deacon, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me today. I know that you are both very busy with your label." Angie the reporter from CMT greeted them.

"It's our pleasure." Rayna smiled at her and took a seat when Deacon pulled her chair out for her.

"We are happy to be here." Deacon sat down and crossed his arms over his chest.

"If you don't mind we are just going to get right into this. If there is a question that goes somewhere you don't want it to feel free not to answer it." Angie took out her laptop.

"That works for me. What about you?" Rayna looked at Deacon.

"That is perfect." He flashed a smile.

"Let's start out with the music. You two have obviously been linked together musically your entire career. So it was a shock last year when Deacon unexpectedly left his post as bandleader and went out first with the Revel Kings and then with Juliette Barnes." Angie delved right in.

"Deacon and I have been together in way one or another for years. We are family neither one of us will dispute that. That being said you always love your family you just don't always like them and sometimes you fight. We had a fight and we parted ways for a little while, but there's no fight in this world that will ever outweigh the love and respect that we have for each other." Rayna replied.

"I absolutely agree with every word she just said. It has to tell you somethin' that we quit each other for a little while and we still ended up on the road together anyway. We have this pull on each other that not even we can explain." Deacon added.

"How did Highway Sixty-five get started? And more importantly how did you become partners? You both just admitted that you couldn't stand to be around each other for awhile. Going from that to business partners is a huge leap." Angie went on.

"Highway Sixty-five got started as a wild hair that I had after Watty White called me up with an idea after hearing Deacon's niece Scarlett and her partner at the time singing at the Bluebird. She went on to become the first artist that I signed when I was still at Edgehill. Will Lexington was the second. I just wanted to do something to help out young artists just getting their start in the business. Give them some control over their career so they aren't forced into doing something with their music they don't want to do." Rayna explained.

"We never stay mad at each other for very long it's impossible for us. The people who have known us the longest aren't surprised at all that our relationship has evolved into us running a label together." Deacon picked up.

"Deacon and I running this label together is probably the most organic thing in the world. We've always been great partners in every sense of that word and this isn't any different. Once I got away from Edgehill and decided to make this an actual label rather than an imprint I knew I was gonna need him. No one in this world knows me better than he does or can help me make the statement I want to make with it as well as he can." Rayna amended.

Angie's fingers flew over her keyboard. "There's been a lot of speculation out there since your accident and subsequent coma. The biggest question is what were you two doing together that night? Rayna, it's no secret at all that you and Deacon were an item for well over a decade before you got married. Through the years there have been a ton of rumors surrounding your relationship status."

"Let me start out by saying that I was never unfaithful to my ex husband or the family we built together. Those rumors were never true regardless of what anyone thought. I won't say that those old feelings didn't still pop up sometimes, because that would be a lie. Deacon said it the best when he said that we have a pull on each other that's pretty hard to ignore." Rayna phrased it delicately.

Deacon reached over and laced his fingers through Rayna's. "The feelings have been there for me since the moment I met her and they haven't gone anywhere. They changed in nature when she got married and we went from bein' lovers to best friends. I always respected those bounds and I have way too much respect for her to have ever compromised her that way."

Rayna laughed a little. "All that being said we will answer that question now. Deacon Claybourne was my first love and through our first eleven years together we put each other through hell at times. The fact that after all that time apart the same love and affection is still there is a testament to how strong our relationship is. Yes, we are back together and we have been for quite some time. That's why we were in the car together that night."

"I can't speak for her, but I know that I never plan to take the bond we share for granted ever again. I've loved this woman for goin' on thirty years and I will never, I have never felt for another woman what I do for her." Deacon just spoke from the heart.

"Now that is a powerful kind of love one we would all be lucky to experience. It looks like you two have just picked up seamlessly like thirteen years haven't gone by. It seems like you two would have given the same interview thirteen years ago." Angie commented.

"Deacon and I do have a little something we have been sitting on for a few weeks. Babe, I will let you do the honors." Rayna grinned.

"Rayna and I are workin' on a project that won't be done for a few months yet. We are havin' a baby." Deacon beamed from ear to ear. He moved his hand to Rayna's belly.

"I'm having a baby and he's having anxiety afraid that every move I make is gonna cause something to happen." Rayna laughed.

"It's my first time give me a break." Deacon blushed.

"You two really seem to moving in overdrive." Angie commented.

"Or it could be seen as us finally ending up where we are supposed to be. Don't get me wrong I will always have a soft spot for my ex." Rayna paused to squeeze Deacon's hand almost to apologize for the next words to come out of her mouth. "There is just a certain affection for the man that takes you from being a single woman and makes you a momma. It'd be lie, though, if I said that came close to what I feel for Deacon. My love for this man is not something that I'm interested in trying to hide or downplay."

"Speaking of being single. Deacon, you went from being alone to being surrounded by three women what's that like for you?" Angie asked.

"It's pretty amazin' actually. Comin' home from the office and knowin' I ain't goin' home to an empty house is good. Those three women are the single best part of my life." Deacon smiled brightly.

"So, any clue as to the sex of the one in the oven is?" Angie inquired.

"You'll just have to wait to find out like everyone else. We can't put everything out in the open." Rayna teased.

"Are we going to be hearing wedding bells in the near future for you two?" Angie pried a little deeper.

"Way to put me on the spot like that, Angie." Deacon laughed and shifted around in his seat.

"With that one time will tell, but I wouldn't count us out if I were you." Rayna played coy about the subject, but the truth was she and Deacon barely were in a functioning adult relationship they didn't need to get married as a band aid.

"Now, for the big question. You both have a hit single out with Luke Wheeler. Is there any chance that we are going to be treated to any new music from you both together?" Angie asked.

"That is a very safe bet. If we knock one part of our relationship out of the park it's the magic we create together through music. It may not be really soon, but you haven't heard the last of us by a long shot." Deacon fielded that question.

Angie checked her notes. "Alright, that is all I have for you today. Thanks again for your time. I'm pretty sure that I just got the exclusive of the century and that's not at all what I was expecting when I was tapped to do this interview."

"We are full of surprises that's for sure." Rayna smiled politely.

"So, how much longer are you gonna pretend like you're not mad at me?" Rayna asked once she and Deacon were in the truck.

"I never said I was mad. I ain't mad." Deacon replied, but he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Let me have it, Deacon, we both know that you're holding something back. I have a pretty good idea of what it is." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I understand that you have an image that you need to protect whereas there's pretty much nothin' that can be done 'bout my image. But, Ray, I was the one who made you a momma not Teddy. I know that it's stupid and petty to feel that way, but give me credit where's it's due." He said finally.

"Now, didn't it feel better to get that out instead of avoiding the subject until you were ready to explode?" She joked lightly.

"It's not funny, damn it, Ray." He huffed.

"You didn't listen that well to how I said that. I said that you have a certain affection for the man that makes you a momma for the first time. I meant you I never said Teddy's name. I just said it in a way that it could be taken to mean I was talking about Teddy. That everyone in the world with the exception of a few people would think I was referring to him." She tried to smooth things over.

"I am so damn tired of this, Ray. I really can't keep pretendin' that I'm not her daddy." He ran his hands over his face.

"I know that and, babe, I'm working on it. I promise you I don't want to hide that anymore either. I can see how proud you are of your little girl and I want you to be able to show that to the world. I just don't want to look like a lying cheating whore." She sighed. She knew that she wasn't exactly being fair to him on that one.

"As long as we are on the same page we can work that out together. I'm ok with that." He took her hand and squeezed it.

"She did raise a pretty valid point in there. Do we want to get married any time soon? And what do we want his last name to be if we don't get married? I only ask this because this is still a fairly traditional industry, babe. I mean most people aren't gonna give a damn either way, there's the few people in the older generation that will balk like my daddy and I really do want him to legitimate." She chewed her bottom lip nervously.

"What do you mean what's his last name gonna be? There's no question there his last name is gonna be Claybourne whether we are married or not. You already gave one of my babies someone else's last name you ain't takin' anythin' from me this time." He flared.

She closed her eyes and winced slightly. "Baby, that was a stupid question. I didn't want to upset you. I was thinking out loud."

"I should be sorry I shouldn't have flown off the handle like that. I know that you're not tryin' to take anythin' from me when it comes to him. I'm workin' on my knee jerk reactions when it comes to my kids. I just wanna protect them and do what's right by them. I wanna be there to experience all the little mundane stuff. The stuff that most people take for granted. Our little girl is gonna be fourteen soon that absolutely blows me away. Sure I held her when she was just a few weeks old and I watched her a lot, but I didn't get the satisfaction of holdin' her in my arms and knowin' I helped to create that beautiful little person. I want that with him." He spoke to her from his heart.

"You don't have to be sorry. You get to have those outbursts and you get to be upset. You need to work through this. And I don't know you're struggling unless you say something to me. I want you to be there for everything with him. But, just as importantly I want to help you be Maddie's daddy and so far you are off to a great start." She kissed his hand.

"You just may be right. Believe it or not you just said exactly what I needed to hear." He gave her a smile and pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Do you two ever think to consult someone before you go off with one of your half cocked ideas?" Tandy came in the kitchen door of Rayna's house.

"Hey, Tandy, it's great to see you too. I'm doin' great thanks for askin'." Deacon greeted her.

"Deacon, do me a favor and shut the fuck up. I expect this kind of poor judgment out of you. Rayna is supposed to be the rational one in your relationship." Tandy rolled her eyes at him.

"What's the issue, babe?" Rayna asked her sister.

"The issue is you two went and gave an interview to CMT without telling Bucky or me that you were gonna do it. Imagine my surprise when the internet and all the local news stations are running the story that you're pregnant like it's wildfire." Tandy scoffed.

"It had to be done and I wanted to do it in the most painless way possible. All that matters is it got done." Rayna retorted.

"I give up you are both hopeless when it comes to each other." Tandy sighed.

"The interview was about more than just me being pregnant it was about the label too. You really need to chill out." Rayna told her.

Deacon shook his head at them and laughed. "I can't believe that conversations like this are part of my life now."

"You don't get to say anything at all. If you could ever remember to use protection she wouldn't always be in these positions." Tandy stared him down.

"Babe, I'm gonna go upstairs to get ready and check on the girls to make sure that their homework is done." Deacon pecked Rayna's lips.

"I'll be up shortly to start getting ready." Rayna smiled against his lips.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you two." Tandy said after Deacon had gone.

"Lucky for you we are both grown adults and not your problem. We can handle this on our own. We are working through are problems, but we've both agreed not to dwell on the past. There are gonna be times when we have flare ups and that's normal. Right now we are focused on being together and starting our life as a family whatever that looks like." Rayna explained to her.

"Please tell me that you two at least plan on getting married before the baby gets here." Tandy stressed.

"If I had to answer that question right now with a gun to my head I would say that the answer is no. Like I said he's forgiven me and we are moving forward, but I know that I don't have back the trust that I broke. I don't even know how to go about rebuilding it. I have three children to think about not just myself. I don't wanna marry him and then have him leave because he realized he'll never be able to trust me. It wouldn't be fair to put them through another media circus breakup and I don't want him to have to be a part time daddy to his son and miss most of everything. I wish there was something I could do to make him see it was just a lapse in judgment and that he can trust me again. It kills me knowing that he doesn't. We aren't just the love of each other's life we are best friends." Rayna rubbed her temples.

"If he's forgiven you that's a step in the right direction. You can't make him trust you again until he's ready. The only thing you can do is assure him that you're working to regain his trust and you won't stop trying until you have it again." Tandy advised her.

"I know that, I think this goes deeper than just the Maddie stuff though. I think this stems back to the fact I fired him. It had nothing to do with Teddy and everything to do with me. I couldn't be that close to him and not be with him anymore and he knew that even before I did, because he knows me and can read me better than anyone. I didn't trust him then I didn't tell him the truth about that. How can I expect him to trust me now? I just wish that there was something I could do to prove to him that I'm in this that I still trust him just as deeply as I did the night I showed up crying on his doorstep 'cause daddy threw me out. His arms used to be the first place I ran because I knew I was safe. I need a gesture to show him I still feel that way and I always have." Rayna sighed.

"Babe, you will think of something you always do. And deep down he does still trust you he's just hurt right now. He wouldn't be practically living with you or have agreed to raise this baby with you if he didn't." Tandy reassured her.

"You're right, I know you are. It's just hard. He's normally the person I go to when I get myself in a mess like this because he gives the best advice and he always has. Anyway, I should go get ready we have that show to play with Luke tonight and I don't wanna be late." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"I made Deacon a promise the night you woke up from that coma and now I'm gonna make you that same promise. You two haven't lost each other not by a long shot and if I have a say in it I'll make sure that it never happens." Tandy swore.

Rayna just stared at her sister absolutely floored by that admission. She just didn't know what to say to that.

* * *

"I'm glad ya'll made it down so early." Luke greeted Rayna, Deacon, and the two girls.

"This is close to home if I have her start gettin' ready early then we actually get where we are supposed to be with time to spare." Deacon joked.

"Freakin' Deacon, you're playin' with fire messin' with a pregnant woman that way." Luke warned him teasingly.

"I ain't real worried, Wheels Up." Deacon laughed.

"Hey, Luke, don't ya'll do that thing where you are absolutely horrible together tonight. I don't think I can take it." Rayna shook her head at how much those two men acted like little boys when they were together.

"I wouldn't dream of it, pretty lady. Look at you, you are glowin' and absolutely gorgeous." Luke hugged her and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"You are aware of who my boyfriend is and what he will do to you right?" Rayna laughed.

"Hell, he knows I'm harmless. Him not so much, but he's got nothin' to worry 'bout from me." Luke laughed along with her. "Come on back to my dressin' room. I think these two would rather hang out with my son than with the three of us."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that, Luke. These two girls love to hang all over Deacon. They think he's just the coolest thing ever." Rayna informed him.

"It's true, I don't get what they see in me, but they are always stuck to me like glue." Deacon had an arm around each other the girls.

"As much as you three hate to be separated you're gonna have to deal with it for a little while tonight." Rayna shook her head and smiled.

"This is my son, Colt. He doesn't talk much and I'm startin' to think that he has these things permanently glued to his ears." Luke walked up behind his son and took the headphones off his ears. "Colt, say hi."

"With Maddie it's the phone glued to her hand." Rayna supplied.

Colt looked up at his father annoyed. "Sup," He nodded at Maddie and Daphne. He paused a moment when his eyes landed on Deacon. "Dude, you're Deacon Claybourne you wrote a bunch of songs for Kid Rock."

"I see my reputation precedes me. It's nice to meet you, Colt. Yeah, I did a little work with Kid Rock." Deacon was impressed that the kid knew that.

"How'd you get that reaction outta him? I'm lucky if I get a grunt or groan. That's more words than he's said to me in the last two years." Luke looked amazed.

"I told you for whatever reason kids love him." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, let's tear him away from his little posse and get him out on stage to make some magic happen." Luke replied.

"I'm comin'. I can always talk to them later." Deacon laughed and walked out of the dressing room with Rayna and Luke.

"Uh, Rayna, I think you might have an issue." Luke approached Rayna after the show.

"What kind of issue, Luke?" Rayna arched her eyebrow at him.

Luke showed her a YouTube video that Maddie had posted using the name Maddie Claybourne. "Now, I don't know 'bout your ex husband, but I know I'm gonna be pretty up in arms if my kid does somethin' like this."

"Luke, you have no idea the minefield that this is. I can't let Deacon see that. That would be even worse than Teddy seein' that right now." Rayna took a deep breath.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"She's Deacon's daughter, Luke. He found out the night of the CMAs they both did." Rayna kept her voice low.

"You know, there have been whispers 'bout that bein' a possibility for years. I just never thought it was true. Not with as crazy as you've always been 'bout him." Luke replied.

"I'm startin' to think that everyone, but Deacon and Maddie knew no matter how hard I tried to keep it under wraps. That's why Deacon and I have been so weird and off balance with each other lately. He doesn't trust me anymore and I can't blame him. He wants the world to know that she's his, but he doesn't want it this way." Rayna sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll get Colt to take it down. And just a word of advice. If you want Deacon to trust you again you gotta tell him 'bout this." Luke offered helpfully.

"Thanks, Luke, I know." Rayna walked away. She walked over to where Deacon was letting Daphne play around with his guitar. "Hey, babe, keep an eye on Daphne for a little while. Our daughter decided that she was gonna put a video on the internet using your last name and I need to talk to her." She whispered in his ear.

Deacon nodded his head thoughtfully. "Ok, I'll talk to her when I get ya'll home." He agreed.

"Be right back." Rayna walked away.

"Alright, now, you've got the guitar part down, but you're missin' somethin'. I know what you need. You need my monitors." Deacon took his monitors off and put them on Daphne.

"What did Maddie do to upset mom this time?" Daphne asked him knowingly.

"You're smarter than all of us put together ain't ya?" Deacon laughed.

"What do you want, mom?" Maddie asked once Rayna had pulled her off to the side.

"Maddie, what were you thinking posting that video using Deacon's last name?" Rayna demanded.

"It's not like it isn't the truth." Maddie argued.

"That is your truth. It's not something for you to splash all over the internet. That could hurt a lot of people yourself included." Rayna retorted.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just feel like I'm living a lie. I can't call my own dad, dad out in public. I have to pretend like he's just your boyfriend. He's so excited about this baby and he gets to make a big deal out of it, but he can't do that with me." Maddie grumbled.

Rayna took a deep breath to give her a moment to collect her thoughts. "He feels the same way. Baby girl, I'm workin' on a way for that to happen, but I don't know what that looks like yet. I promise you that it'll happen soon. I think that after what I did to you two I owe it to you both to help make it right." She put her arms around her daughter.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. For those of you who like this fic if you haven't already check out my other Nashville fic After the fire is gone I update that one a little more regularly than this one. Until next time please review.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 13

"We went to bed not talking are we gonna keep that up this morning or are we actually gonna talk about this?" Rayna asked Deacon over the rim of her coffee cup.

"We didn't go to bed not talkin'. We did a whole lot of talkin' last night. I'm surprised we didn't wake the girls with as loud as someone was." Deacon smirked and turned on the tv.

"I wasn't talking about the sex and you know it. The sex was amazing like always, but I was referring to the fact that we didn't talk about this latest thing with Maddie." She corrected him.

"What is there to say, Ray? I can only say the same thing so many times before we both get tired of hearin' it. I want the world to know that I'm her daddy and from talkin' to her last night I know that she wants the same thing. Until that happens ain't neither one of us gonna be happy." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"I'll tell you like I told her last night. I know that's what you both want and I'm gonna do everything that I can to help make it happen. I owe it to both of you after I kept the truth from you and you had to find out the way that you did. I'm just not sure what that looks like yet. Because, I want to protect you two from the media fallout." She explained to him.

"I told you as long as we're on the same page we ain't got a problem. It means everythin' to me to hear you say that. I think that Maddie was already a little jealous of the baby anyway, because I get to be here and have the full experience with him. And then I think it's made a little bit worse 'cause I basically get to beat on my chest and go 'round tellin' whoever the hell I want that he's mine, but I don't get to do that with her." He replied.

"I think you're exactly right and I think you understand her better than anyone else could ever hope to. I also know that I made the biggest mistake of my life keeping you two from each other. She's a totally different person with you around." She started to say and then she caught sight of what was on the tv. "What the hell is that?"

"What's what?" He turned around to look at the tv. He saw the video that Maddie had posted being played on The View. "Oh, fuck."

"Normally, I'd correct you about your language, but oh fuck sums it up nicely." She sighed loudly. She picked her phone up off the counter when it rang. "I already know, Buck, I'm looking at it right now. I'll have to call you back when I know how I want to handle this." She listened to what Bucky had to say. "Alright, Buck, I'll get everyone on the same page." She hung up the phone.

"What was that 'bout? Like I don't already know." He groaned.

"That was Bucky. He's already out in front of this as usual. He's got us a spot on GMA later this morning. We just have to work out what we are gonna say." She informed him.

"What do you mean what we're gonna say?" He wore a confused look on his face.

"You're gonna hate this, but for the good of everyone involved I need you to absolve Teddy and me of any wrong doing. I need you to say that you knew about her, but you stepped aside because you knew you couldn't take care of her." She bit her lip nervously. She knew that wasn't gonna go over well with him at all. But, she also knew he would do whatever it took to protect her. It was something that she had taken advantage of on more than one occasion.

"I don't just hate it, Ray, I'm totally against it. I get to look like the bad guy while you two come out of this mess lookin' like you didn't do a damn thing wrong." He flared.

"I know that's exactly what I'm asking of you, Deacon. That isn't lost on me, babe. If you wanna help protect your daughter in this situation the best way you can do that is to lie and keep them from draggin' my name through the mud. I know that it's not fair to you at all, but I really don't want those two little girls or this baby boy I'm carrying to suffer because of my mistakes. You love Daphne just as same as you do Maddie and the baby you can't tell me that you want that for them." She appealed to him as a father.

"I'll do it, just don't expect to be happy 'bout and don't except me to sleep here tonight either. I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready." He sat his coffee cup down on the counter.

"I'm gonna call Teddy to let him know what's going on and then I will be up to get ready." She replied.

He just waved over his shoulder to show that he had heard her.

* * *

The car ride to the tv studio was filled with more awkward silence. Deacon pulled the truck into a parking space still not bothering to say a word.

"Before we go in there I'm sorry that I put us in this position to begin with. I know that you say you've forgiven me and I really do believe that you have. I don't think you trust me though I think you forgave almost as soon as you found out, but I think you confused forgiveness and trust. You forgave the lie, but I hurt you and you don't feel like you can trust me, so you hung on to the mad as long as you could. That way you wouldn't have to deal with the hurt, because you don't know how not to trust me and I don't know what it's like for you not to trust me. I guess what I'm saying is if we go in there and you decide you can't go along with the party line I understand, babe. That would probably be exactly what I deserve. Actually, I'd be getting off easy. I also want you to know that you get to be hurt and upset over what I asked you to do for as long as you want, but I love you and I'm not going anywhere." Rayna took his hand and looked into his eyes. She needed him to hear that before they went in there and potentially destroyed their second chance to tell a lie to cover the one she had told.

"I love you too and I'd never purposely do anythin' that could hurt you. I'm gonna lie for you, Ray. I rather look like a deadbeat than have you go through a minute of hurt." He replied. He didn't say anything about whether he trusted her or not. That was something that he had to think about. Damn her if she didn't have a point. Maybe that's what he had done. Held on to the anger to avoid how badly she'd hurt him.

She didn't have to hear him say that he didn't trust her she could see it in his eyes and it damn near broke her heart in two. "Thank you, babe. I know what I'm asking of you and I really appreciate this. The world may not see you as the good guy, but to me you'll always be my hero."

"Come on, let's go get this over with." He got out of the truck.

Rayna groaned when she saw that Peggy was waiting with Teddy inside the studio. "I could have done without her being here."

"If I can't throw down with Teddy you can't have a cat fight with Peggy. You're pregnant we've already put Baby Claybourne through a car wreck let's try to keep it to one traumatic experience durin' this pregnancy." Deacon whispered back.

"Darlin', you forget who I lived with as a teenager I may act like a lady, but I can throw down like a man." She reminded him.

"I may be guilty as charged on that one, but we couldn't keep affordin' bail money to get me out of jail when drunk guys messed with you." He chuckled.

"Rayna, there you are. I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this in your condition." Peggy greeted her with a hug.

Rayna hugged the other woman back stiffly. "I'll be fine; I guess it's just time to have this out in the open anyway."

"Of course the important thing here is protecting Maddie." Peggy had a smile in place.

"That's what I've been doing since the day I found out that I was pregnant with her." Rayna plastered a fake smile on her face.

"Do either of you care to explain to me how the hell you let this happen on your watch?" Teddy crossed his arms over his chest.

Rayna discreetly elbowed Deacon in the ribs to keep him from blowing his top. "She's a teenager, Teddy. I don't police her life I'm her mother not her prison warden. I trust her to know right from wrong. Even if what she did was completely reckless she was in the right here. We taught her to always tell the truth and that's what she was doing. I hate to say it, but maybe she knows what she's doing a little bit better than we do. Don't get me wrong I don't condone the way she went about it, but that's her truth. If she wanted the world to know that was her right. As to how anyone got ahold of that I have no clue. I put a call in to daddy and he's gonna put his guy on it to see if he can find out who leaked it."

"I wasn't aware that you and Lamar are on speaking terms again." Teddy commented.

"I think of my father as a tool I keep him in a drawer and I only take him out when I need to use him." Rayna retorted smartly.

"Ms. Jaymes, Mayor Conrad, Mrs. Conrad, Mr. Claybourne, we're just about ready for you." One of the production assistants said.

Deacon's head snapped to the side so quickly that the joints in his neck popped. "Over my dead body, Rayna. You fix this or I will." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Teddy, what exactly is going through your head right now?" Rayna asked him.

"She's my wife, Rayna." Teddy replied.

"And this ain't got a damn thing to do with her. I think I've had enough people puttin' their two cents in where my daughter is concerned I don't need another. You're the mayor, Teddy, you can't really afford to go on national tv and be exposed as a fraud. Let's just remember one thing here if I didn't adore my daughter and not wanna cause her any undue pain I would have been well within my rights to take your sorry ass to court. You signed your name to document knowin' it was false that is the definition of fraud. And, Ray, I could have ruined you, because you signed my rights away for me. So, now would not be the time to test me. I'm 'bout to get up and make myself out to be a deadbeat. If I gotta do that I'm doin' it on my terms. I don't care if it makes me look like a horse's ass or a petulant child, but I'm telling' you right now this really ain't her place and I ain't doin' it with her up on that soundstage." Deacon trembled with rage.

"He's resorting to threats now? That's just wonderful." Teddy rolled his eyes.

"No, he was just telling the truth. He could have caused a lot of trouble if he really wanted to. I think this time we have to accommodate him." Rayna shrugged.

"Ya'll talk this out I'm gonna take a breath real quick." Deacon walked away.

"Babe, wait." Rayna called after him.

Deacon kept walking like he hadn't heard her.

"Seems like things aren't as peachy as you two made them seem for that CMT reporter are they?" Teddy questioned.

"I've made excuses for him over the years that I knew were bullshit when they left my mouth, but that is a broken man. He's played by our rules I think it's time we played by his. I'm sure in his shoes you'd feel the same way." Rayna avoided answering his question.

"Ok, we will do this his way." Teddy said and then he turned to Peggy. "Peggy, for the sake of keeping the peace I think it'll be better if you sit this one out. The stress isn't good for the baby anyway."

"Whatever you want, Teddy." Peggy smiled tightly.

Deacon returned to the studio about two minutes before their segment was due to start. He took a seat beside Rayna after he was wired up with a mic.

"Where were you?" Rayna whispered to him.

"I stepped outside and called Cole. I may not have wanted a drink, but I wanted to hit someone, so I thought I'd be a damn good idea to have someone talk me off the ledge." Deacon whispered back.

"We're going live in three, two, one." The production assistant counted down.

Robin Robert's face filled the screen via satellite. "We're back with Rayna Jaymes, Deacon Claybourne, and Mayor of Nashville Teddy Conrad joining via satellite from our Nashville affiliate. Good morning, thank you all for joining us. I'm sure that you have other things in your busy schedule to attend to."

"We're happy to be here." Rayna plastered her stage smile on her face.

"Thanks for havin' us." Deacon smiled a little.

"I'm glad to take time out of my schedule to set the record straight." Teddy added.

"I'll get right into the heart of the matter. Rayna, on the heels of your announcement that you and Deacon are having a baby together it comes out that this may not be your first. Can you shed any light on that?" Robin asked.

"This baby isn't our first child together my daughter, our daughter Maddie is." Rayna admitted.

"Yet she has Mayor Conrad's last name." Robin observed.

"That's right until recently I was the only father that Maddie had ever known." Teddy fielded that question.

"We did our best to give her a loving and stable home. I think we succeeded in that even if we didn't get things right with each other." Rayna added.

"Deacon, where did you fit into all of this?" Robin directed that question at him because so far he hadn't said anything.

Deacon took a deep breath and looked right at Rayna before he spoke. "I'm an alcoholic and at the time Maddie was born I was in no position to take care of myself much less a child. Rayna and Teddy both did an excellent job raising and providin' a good home for my little girl. I'm very grateful for that. I haven't had a drink in my daughter's life and I plan to keep it that way if I have any bit of say in it. But, people plan and God laughs as the sayin' goes. I'm fightin' a life long battle with this disease and I gotta take it one day at a time." Saying those words killed him a little inside, but it was for Rayna and Maddie he could live with throwing himself under the bus for his girls.

"Does that mean you knew about your daughter and chose not to be a part of her life?" Robin tried to clarify.

Rayna looked at Deacon and she saw some of the fight go out of him. She saw his shoulders stoop under the weight of more blame being heaped upon him. His refusal to get help for his alcoholism had been on him, but she had gotten into the habit of constantly holding his past mistakes over his head. That was the moment she knew what she had to do to earn his trust back and make this right for him and Maddie.

"I'll answer that for Deacon. He didn't know he was a daddy until the night of the CMAs. Like he said he was an alcoholic and a mess. I was emotional, pregnant, and terrified that I couldn't take care of him and a baby. Teddy and I had been seeing each other on and off. He saw how scared I was and he offered to love us. I didn't turn him down. We both knew she probably wasn't his, but we decided to go for it anyway. That is a decision I will always regret not because Teddy was anything short of wonderful, but because I hurt two of the best men I have ever known. Teddy held in a secret for me for years that wasn't his to keep. Deacon would have gotten up here and crucified himself for me. I can't let them do that anymore. I need to own my actions. I've put both of them in a terrible position and for that I'm sorrier than either of them will ever know. I let Teddy fall in love with a child we both knew wasn't his. And I shattered the love of my life's heart. All I can do is hope that they both one day forgive me. The girls and I are all extremely lucky to have both these amazing men in our life."

She just couldn't lie anymore. It was better to have everything out in the open and let the chips fall where they may. To hell with her image. It was more important that she make things right with the people she loved the most in the world.

"In her defense I drove her to it. I was a mess and that was no environment to bring a baby into. She was just bein' a good momma and protectin' our daughter even if it was from me. She says that she was scared and that she just didn't have the strength to face life with a guy with me. But I happen to think what she did was extremely brave. It took an extreme amount of courage to walk away from the only thing she'd known in her adult life and start over. I will always be proud of her for that and for raisin' our little girl to be every bit as strong as she is. I'm sorry to say that I'm the one who made her that strong, not because I always pushed her to be her best, but because I constantly disappointed her. She can try to take the blame for this all she wants. The blame rests with me. I'm the alcoholic, I'm the one who didn't appreciate what he had, and I'm the one who lost everythin' that I hold dear." Deacon just couldn't let her take that all on herself. So, he took his share of the blame for the situation. It had ultimately been Rayna's decision, but he had contributed to it.

"I for one happen to think that you're all pretty amazing and you handle this situation beautifully. It shows a level of maturity that not a lot of people are capable of. Thanks again for being with us today." Robin said in parting.

"And we're out." The PA announced.

"Rayna, do you care to tell me what the hell that was?" Teddy turned to her.

"That was me leading by example." Rayna retorted. She turned to look at Deacon. "You couldn't do it could you? You couldn't just let me be the hero for a change?"

Deacon took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. "I trust you, Ray." He murmured against her lips.

"And I trust you more than I trust anyone in this world." She pressed her lips to his again.

"Come on, let's go home, baby." Deacon stood and offered her his hand.

"That's the best idea I've heard all day." Rayna took his hand and walked out to the truck with him.

"Really, Teddy? You just let her paint you in that light?" Peggy demanded of her husband.

"I didn't let her paint me in any light. This wasn't about me, or her, or him this was about Maddie. The most important thing is protecting her. If that means all three of us had to take a hit in the reputation department then so be it." Teddy shrugged.

"You basically let her say that you committed fraud. Given the things that happened in the past that wasn't a very smart idea." She made a veiled reference to the Cumberland deal.

"That's dead and buried, Peggy. Leave it alone. You don't need to stress so much right now. We have every reason to believe that everything is going to work out just fine." Teddy put his arm around her shoulders.

* * *

No sooner had Rayna and Deacon got into the truck than her cell rang.

"Give me just a second, Buck, and I'll put you on speaker." Rayna turned the speaker phone on. "Ok, talk."

"Ray, Deacon, you two handled that perfectly. I don't know why I expected anything less out of either of you. Great job." Bucky praised them.

"My sister is gonna hunt me down and kill me for that, but it was worth it." Rayna replied.

"I have nothin' to lose so I threw myself under the bus." Deacon threw in.

"If I've learned two things from being around you all these years it's to expect the unexpected and always knock on closed doors." Bucky snorted.

"Those are both valid points. Thanks for calling, Buck." Rayna laughed.

"It only took you way too long to learn 'bout knockin'." Deacon added.

"I'm gonna go I have work to do. I need to find Will another tour since Juliette got dropped by Edgehill. I will talk to you soon." Bucky hung up the phone.

"Ray, where do you want me to go? We have nowhere else to be right now." He asked.

"Let's go to the bridge. I don't know about you, but I could use some air after that." She said after she thought it over.

"I can handle that." He agreed. He drove them to the pedestrian bridge and parked the truck. He climbed out and helped her down.

They walked along in easy silence for a little while before they reached one of the overlooks.

Deacon put his hands on the railing and looked down at the river. "Ray, what was that back there? I was prepared to take the blame and let you off the hook."

"I don't know it just came out before I could stop it. I was gonna let you do it, but then I saw how defeated you looked, babe, and I couldn't let you take the blame when it wasn't yours to shoulder. And I'm sick of living my life in the shadows. I don't want there to be anymore secrets that we are holding on to." She didn't tell him the complete truth.

"There's more to it than that and we both know it." He called her on her bullshit.

"Deacon, I've known for awhile now that you don't trust me anymore. I've been looking for the perfect way to win back your trust. I couldn't think of a better way to do than to prove to you that I'm willing to burn everything that I've built to the ground. None of it matters to me anyway unless I have you." She admitted.

"You didn't have to do that." He gazed at her intently.

"I did have to do that. What kind of example would I be setting if I didn't? I'm not naïve enough to think that our kids won't one day see that interview. When they do I didn't want them to wonder why mom let dad take the blame for something she did. I had a choice between keeping up the lie or being the person that I want to be, no being the woman that you deserve and for the first time in I don't remember when I chose right. You cleaned your mess up when you got sober it was my turn to clean up the mess I made." She put her hand on top of his.

"I don't think you'll ever realize how much that meant to me. For awhile there I was afraid I was gonna be nothin', but the screw up you were stuck with for life and had to prop up because we share children." He laced their fingers together.

"I think you needed to hear it as badly as I needed to say it." She leaned against him.

"Where do we go from here, Ray?" He asked her.

"Does it matter as long as we're together?" She answered his question with a question.

"Hell no, right by your side is where I want to be for the rest of my life I can tell you that much right now." He chuckled lightly.

"I know that we still have time, but I've been thinking about what I'd like us to name this little guy." She took his hand and put it on her belly.

"And what's that?" He rubbed her belly affectionately.

"I want to name him after the best man that I know. I want to name him Deacon like his daddy." She replied.

"Really? I don't know, babe. I'm already handin' him some pretty screwed up genes. Wouldn't you rather give him a name that's his own?" he shrugged her compliment off.

"Honey, he can overcome those genes you passed down to him, you did. With the two of us behind him he won't ever have to worry about your demons." She reassured him.

"Can I think 'bout it?" He asked.

"Of course you can, but you should know it's very rare that I don't get my way." She teased him.

"I'm well aware of that. I've seen you in action." He laughed softly.

"And just so you know there were multiple times over the years that I almost told you about Maddie. It was always right on the tip of my tongue, but I never could pull the trigger and let it fly." She buried her face in his chest.

"Believe me I knew that you were holdin' somethin' back from me I just never dreamed that was it. I think we've put that subject to rest for good now. We can't change the past. We have this sayin' in the program to accept the things I can't change. That's what we've both got to do now. I'm not stupid enough to think that it won't ever come up again, but I think we are done fightin' over it. I rather fight with you than kiss anyone else, but God I'm so sick of fightin' with you." He wrapped his arm around her and held her tight.

"I think that you're right. I really love the way that sounds." She agreed.

"Besides that I think we have other things we can fight 'bout that aren't gonna piss us off quite as much." He kissed the top of her head.

"And what's that?" She asked.

"Like where are we gonna live for starters." He put out there.

"You just oughta move in with me for right now. That doesn't have to be where we stay for good, but you're over there enough that I think most of your wardrobe is in my bedroom." She laughed.

"I can live with that on one condition." He told her.

"What's that, baby?" She looked up at him.

"Ok, I lied it's two conditions. The first thing is we get a new bed. I can't be with you in the same bed that you were with Teddy in. The second thing is those portraits of Maddie and Daphne have got to go. I love those two little girls to death, but I just can't handle it, babe." He buried his face in her hair.

"That can be arranged." She tugged on his hand to pull him along with her. "Come on."

"Where are we goin' now?" He followed along behind her.

"You're the one who wants a new bed. We're goin' shoppin'. I know how much you love that." Rayna grinned at him.

"You're lucky you're so damn cute and I can't tell you no." Deacon shook his head and allowed her to lead him where she wanted him to go. She could never lead him anywhere that he wouldn't follow her cheerfully.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed. I had to change things around slightly so Rayna could truly make things right and they could move on. Until next time please review.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 14

Deacon checked his watch with a loud sigh. This wasn't his idea of a good time at all. He could think of hundreds of things he rather do than this.

"Look, Deacon, what about this one?" Daphne held up a blue sleeper with a bear on it.

"That one is really cute, Daph. I'm sure that he will look good in it." Deacon smiled back at her. They were baby shopping and they had both wanted to include the girls in it so that they didn't feel left out. Seeing all three of his girls so happy almost made up for the fact that he had been sucked into one of his most hated activities.

"Aw, Deacon, we have to get him this he will look so adorable." Rayna held up a little preppy looking outfit. It consisted of a powder blue polo and plaid shorts.

"Ain't no son of mine wearin' anythin' that looks like that. He'll look like a little banker or somethin'." Deacon put his foot down.

"No he won't. He will look so damn cute." Rayna argued with him. "Maddie, tell him."

"He will look cute in that." Maddie agreed with her mother.

"He'll look like one them little boys that's just beggin' to get beat up on the playground if you dress him like that." Deacon countered.

"Deacon, you're being ridiculous. He's your son I don't think you're gonna have to worry about anyone beating him up. If they even try it I'll sure he'll be able to hold his own. I'm getting him this outfit." Rayna's tone left no room for argument.

"Alright, if that's how you wanna play it, Ray." Deacon went off in search of an outfit that he would like. He returned a few minutes later carrying an outfit that met with his approval. It was a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Really, Deacon? Are you trying to make him look like a miniature version of you?" Rayna hooked her eyebrow.

"So what if I am? This is a little boy's outfit. They gotta be dressed for bein' all rough and tumble. You can't dress 'em cute and expect that they are gonna stay clean." Deacon replied.

Rayna walked over and stole a kiss from him and laughed. "I think you're right. He's gonna be so damn adorable dressed like his daddy. That is the outfit that we are gonna bring him home from the hospital in. I'm of course gonna need a bunch of pictures of you two looking alike."

Deacon dropped his hand down to her rapidly expanding belly and rubbed it. He just couldn't get enough of her changing body. Every little change excited him. This was his first time experiencing this and he was enjoying every moment of it. "You wanna be dressed like a man don't ya, Bubba?" He spoke to his unborn son. "Of course ya do. Daddy knows. You gotta stick with him and he'll protect ya from these crazy womenfolk."

"You are downright sexy when you talk to him like that, but you're also adorable as hell. Darlin' you're fannin' a fire in me you better be careful." Rayna whispered in his ear.

"Good thing that we are droppin' the girls off with Teddy after we finish up here and then we are free to be as loud as we wanna be." Deacon whispered back.

"As much as I like the sound of that you know that we have dinner with my daddy and my sister later. I don't think we have time for a little break in between now and then." Rayna reminded him.

"Oh, I just remembered that I have a gig tonight and I can't make it." Deacon tried to get out of dinner with Lamar and Tandy. He rather be stuck shopping than have to deal with those two.

"Nice try, babe, but you aren't getting out of this. I do appreciate the effort though." Rayna pinched his cheek.

"I had to give it a try anyway." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on, let's go pay for all the stuff we've got. I don't wanna have to rush around." Rayna linked her arm through his.

* * *

"You know we still have to buy furniture for in here." Rayna was in the process of putting the baby's clothes away in the spare dresser she had in the room.

"I know. We need to sit down and pick out somethin' that we both like. If this goes anythin' like decoratin' our first place did then it's gonna be a battle." Deacon walked up behind her and kissed the back of her neck.

"Mmm, if I remember correctly you know all the right ways to win a battle with me." She leaned back against him.

"I'm sure I could come up with somethin' to get my way." He put both his hands on her belly and then started to move them lower slowly.

"You better behave yourself, boy. Those girls are still here and this is the baby's room." She warned him playfully.

"Mom, dad's downstairs if you wanna talk to him." Maddie stuck her head in the door.

Rayna gave him a look that said see what I mean. "Yeah, baby girl, I'll be right down. You go on ahead." She turned and smiled at her.

"You are both gross. I don't know why you can't go a minute without touching." Maddie rolled her eyes at her parents before she headed downstairs.

"Rayna, I ain't gonna lie I don't like it that he just let's himself into the house. He don't live here anymore. The least he could do is knock." Deacon frowned.

"I'll talk to him about it. I know that you're not entirely comfortable living here and him walking in here like he owns the place doesn't make it any easier on you." Rayna assured him.

"Thanks, babe, I ain't tryin' to be difficult. I just need to feel like this is my place too." He replied.

"Now, come on downstairs with me so we can tell those girls bye." She took his hand and led him down the steps.

Teddy stood by the front door waiting for the girls to gather their stuff up.

"Teddy, can I have a word with you really fast?" Rayna plastered a smile on her face.

"Sure," Teddy agreed.

She walked into the kitchen knowing that he would follow her.

"What's up?" He asked.

"In the future can you knock before you just walk in? I know that it's a force of habit, but we need to set some boundaries." She explained to him patiently.

"Yeah, I can knock. I guess that's because Deacon lives here now. You never had a problem with it before." He grumbled.

"Hey, you wouldn't want him walking into your house unannounced either. It's a respect thing. We all gotta learn to respect each other." She went on.

"That makes sense. Hey, can I ask you a question?" He ran his hand over the back of his head.

"Of course you can." She answered.

"How far along are you?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm twenty-two weeks. Why?" She rubbed her belly.

"It's just that Peggy should be about as far along as you are and she's not showing at all and well with you it's obvious." He pointed out.

"All women show differently, but she's as thin as I am. So, yeah, she probably should be showing by now. If you think there's something you need to ask your wife though you need to talk to her. You know how I feel about her and I'm gonna be inclined to see the worst in her whether is true or not." She shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll do that, thanks for the advice." He nodded at her.

"I should let you get to the girls now." She ended their conversation.

"I don't want to keep them waiting." He smiled.

Both the girls had their arms around Deacon hugging him when they walked back into the other room.

"Ya'll be good and I'll see you in a week. I love you and I'm gonna miss you so much. Your momma secretly abuses me when you ain't 'round." Deacon kissed both their cheeks before he let them go.

"Love you too, dad." Maddie kissed his cheek.

"I love you too, Deacon." Daphne kissed his check as well.

"Come here, my girls." Rayna held her arms opened to her daughters.

Both girls rushed into their mother's arms.

"I love you girls so much. Ya'll have fun with your daddy and behave yourselves." She kissed them both on the head.

"Love you too, mom." They said in unison.

Daphne bent down and kissed her belly. "I love you too, Bubba. I'm gonna miss you. Don't you kick while I'm gone."

Maddie touched her mother's belly. "You just stay in there and keep cooking. We will be back next week and I'll ready to you about how much you've grown then."

"Alright, you two ready?" Teddy asked them. They didn't act like this over Peggy's pregnancy. He couldn't help the tinge of jealousy that bubbled to the surface. Then again he didn't know if he should be getting them psyched up about Peggy's pregnancy.

"We're ready, dad." Daphne answered for her and Maddie.

"Let's get going then." Teddy led them out of the house.

"Alone at last." Deacon grinned and bit his lip sexily.

"With just enough time to spare to get ready for this dinner. I don't wanna go any more than you do. Daddy has insisted on having it at his house and you know how I feel about going back there." Rayna sighed.

"Hey, you just keep yourself calm and relaxed by thinkin' 'bout everythin' I'm gonna do to you the minute I get you home. That's how I plan on keepin' myself from stranglin' Lamar." He winked at her.

She kissed him and rubbed his shoulders. "Just be on your best behavior that's all I ask for. I don't want you to take the bait when he tries gettin' you to fight with him. You're my choice and that's the only thing that matters. He doesn't get a say and his opinion doesn't count."

"I'll keep that in mind, babe." He agreed. He didn't want to do anything that was going to put any stress on her or the baby. He could clearly see that she wasn't relaxed, so he decided to do something about that. He moved his hands down her body and undid the snap on the front of her jeans.

"Deacon, what are you doing? I told you we don't have time for this." She argued.

"I'm relaxin' you, so chill out and let me." He pushed his hand down the front of her panties.

"We really need to get goin'." A moan caught in her throat as he slid two fingers into her.

"We have time for this. We ain't gonna worry 'bout me right now. We can take care of me later." He pumped his fingers in and out of her and he circled her clit with his thumb.

Instead of arguing with him some more she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

He hooked his fingers inside of her in the way that he knew she loved and nibbled on her bottom lip.

She pulled her lips away from his and buried her face in his neck. She made soft mewling noises as she felt him work her closer and closer to the brink of orgasm. She bit and sucked on his neck trying to contain her pleasure. She didn't want him to know that he had been right about her needing help to relax.

He felt her clit pulsate against his thumb and her walls contract around his fingers. "Come for me, Ray, I can feel ya gettin' there." He whispered huskily in her ear.

She let out a loud moan and bit down hard on his shoulder as her orgasm tore through her body.

"There you go, baby." He wrapped his arm around her waist to help keep her upright. He kissed on her neck softly.

"Oh God, Deacon. I don't know how you do this to me." She panted.

"Feel better now?" He chuckled.

"Much better, baby, thank you for always knowing what I need to make me feel better. You better believe that you are getting rewarded for this later." She kissed him softly.

"I'll be lookin' forward to it." He smirked against her lips.

"You should be." She grinned back.

* * *

"Thank God you two showed up semi on time for a change." Tandy opened the front door to Lamar's house before Rayna could knock.

"He's being that bad already?" Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"He's in a fairly good mood for a change. I was afraid he was going to get started if you were any later." Tandy gave her a quick hug. "Deacon," She nodded at him.

"Tandy," Deacon returned the greeting in kind.

"Where is he?" Rayna asked.

"He's in his study." Tandy led them back to where Lamar was.

Lamar stood from behind his desk. "Rayna, I was starting to think that I was going to have to send a search party out to find you."

"Daddy, we aren't that late. I've been a lot later than this before. You can blame your future grandson. It took me forever to find a pair of shoes that would fit because I'm so swollen." Rayna explained to him. It didn't matter what she did she just couldn't seem to please her father. Though things had gotten better between them since he'd had his heart attack.

"In that case I think I can forgive you." Lamar replied.

Deacon stood up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He was just trying to stay on his best behavior and avoid a fight with Lamar if at all possible.

"That's so generous of you, daddy." Rayna fought the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"That's our father Saint Lamar the Giving." Tandy quipped.

Deacon just chuckled at that. "Tandy, how much have you been drinkin' tonight?"

"Less than you on a bender, but enough to be able to stand this dinner." Tandy retorted.

Rayna gave Lamar a pointed look for not speaking to Deacon.

"Deacon, how are you doing?" Lamar asked politely.

"I'm doin' good. How are you, Lamar?" Deacon replied just as politely.

"I can't complain." Lamar was having a hard time being civil to Deacon.

"Hey, babe, what do you say we go upstairs and go through mom's stuff?" Rayna was going to force her boyfriend and her father to get along whether they wanted to or not.

"Why would I want to do that when I could stay down here and watch this?" Tandy picked up her wine glass.

Rayna gave her an exasperated look. "Because, I'm pregnant and very hormonal and I wanna go through our momma's stuff, but I don't want to do it alone. Plus, this will give daddy and Deacon a chance to talk." She hoped that her sister would read between the lines.

"Fine, but I'm bringing the bottle with me." Tandy grabbed the bottle of wine.

"Thank you," Rayna grinned at her.

Deacon shot her a pleading look. He didn't want her to leave him alone with her father. All he got for his troubles was a kiss on the cheek before she left him alone in the wolf's den with the wolf himself.

"Deacon, have a seat. I'd offer you a drink, but we both know why that would be a bad idea." Lamar reclaimed his seat.

Deacon sat down in the offered chair. "The first one wouldn't be a bad idea, but the ten others that followed sure would be."

"So, you must be excited about having a son." Lamar mused. He knew that he was excited by the prospect of finally getting a male heir.

"I'm excited to be experiencin' this at all. Though I'll confess that I'm happy to be gettin' some backup. Those three women sure know how to do a number on me." Deacon replied a little uneasily.

"As long as we're on the subject I happen to think that Wyatt would be a very respectable name for a boy." Lamar told him.

"She's wantin' to name him Deacon. I'm against it, but she's never not gotten her way with me so we will see who wins this argument. I guess it's her way of tryin' to make up for keepin' Maddie from me and givin' her another man's last name." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"She would want to name him after you." Lamar snorted.

"Look, Lamar, I know that you don't like me and I don't particularly like you. The thing is your daughter loves the both of us and that's a fact. Don't put her in a position where she's forced to choose. We both know that she'll choose me she's done it before and she'll do it again if she has to. I don't want that and neither do you. The way I see it is we have to at least learn to be civil to each other. Cause I certainly don't wanna have to fight with ya all the time." Deacon looked the older man dead in the eyes as he spoke.

Lamar cleared his throat and took a sip of his drink to hide the fact that he was a bit taken aback at being spoken to that way.

* * *

"So, how do you think daddy and Deacon are getting along down there?" Tandy sat on the side of the bed in Rayna's old bedroom.

"Well, I haven't heard either of them screaming yet so I will take that as a good thing. They need to get whatever macho posturing bullshit they need to do out of the way so we don't have to sit down there and revisit the Cold War." Rayna shrugged her shoulders.

"It's a good idea I'm just not sure that it's wise. Those two are like oil and water together they just don't mix. Daddy is a well-bred southern gentleman and Deacon is well Deacon. They have absolutely nothing in common and only a fool could think that they could make them get along." Tandy advised her.

"I don't expect them to get along I just expect them to find some common ground. Even the most bitter enemies can manage to be civil to each other if the occasion calls for it. I know that Deacon loves me enough to at least try. I'm not so sure about daddy though." Rayna mused.

"He'll try the best that he knows how, but I just want you to be prepared for the fact that he's never going to truly like Deacon." Tandy warned.

"I know that he'll never like him. Deacon will never like daddy either. Like you said they are just from different worlds." Rayna could grant her, her point on that one.

"You and Deacon are from different worlds. For the life of me I will never understand what attracts you two to each other." Tandy had long wondered about that.

"Tandy, if it makes you feel any better I don't think it's something that even Deacon and I understand. We just have this pull on each other that can't be explained. I was gone within minutes of setting eyes on him and I know that he feels the same way. We connect on this really deep level that transcends everything else. He knows me better than anyone myself included." Rayna offered the only explanation that she could give.

"That's a good enough answer for me. I know that you're happier now than I've seen you in years. If you tell him I said this I'll deny it, but sober Deacon is good for you. Being drunk aside his only other unforgivable sin was being born poor. The more I get to know him the more I realize what a good guy he is." Tandy hated to admit that she liked Deacon even a little bit. She had always been so dead set against him having anything to do with her sister.

Rayna gasped and clutched her chest with a grin on her face. "Be still my heart I didn't think I'd ever see the day those words came out of your mouth. I thought that you would go to your grave hating him just on principle alone."

"He has to be the most genuine honest person that I've ever met. The night you woke up he was just so vulnerable and open with me that it made it hard not to like him. I know that I've never seen a man feel that deeply before in my life." Tandy drank from the wine bottle she'd carried upstairs with her.

"He feels things very deeply. He's without a doubt the most passionate person I've ever met. That passion just doesn't always manifest itself in a good way. Or at least it didn't until he figured out how to control it. Now it comes out in his music. If you knew the way he grew up you'd understand why he is the way he is." Rayna told her.

"What do you mean?" Tandy was really interested now.

"His father was really mean drunk and nothing Deacon did was ever right enough for him. I think his mom was just kinda in denial about how bad his dad was and she didn't do much to protect him or his sister. You can never let him know that I told you that. He's an intensely private person and that's a part of himself he doesn't open up about ever." Rayna warned her.

"He won't hear about it from me." Tandy swore to her.

"He better not. And you can't look at him like you pity him. That's part of the reason he doesn't tell people. He's very proud in addition to everything else he is. He doesn't want or need anyone to feel sorry for him. He used to tell me that I shouldn't waste my time pitying people. The ones who want it aren't worthy of it and the ones who need it don't want it." Rayna went on.

"He's like a wise man or something. I swear he talks like a self-help book sometimes." Tandy shook her head.

"I know. Now you know why I've always confided almost everything in him when I have a problem. He gives the best advice." Rayna smiled.

"I hope you two aren't in here talkin' 'bout me." Deacon stuck his head in the door with a grin on his face.

"You aren't worth wasting my breath over. When I get her alone I wanna gossip about something good with her." Tandy dismissed his comment.

"I have a lot of memories in this room." Deacon looked around and took it all in. He chose to ignore Tandy. He figured out that she didn't get her happy feeling if he didn't engage her.

"Yeah and that's not something that we are gonna discuss with the mouth of the south in the room." Rayna really didn't want to get him started on the things they had done in this bedroom before Lamar had kicked her out. "Daddy isn't dead is he?"

"No he's not dead. He sent me up here to get you two for dinner. Don't worry so much, Ray. We had a nice little talk and I think we've come to an understandin' of sorts. Though I'm sure that's what you hoped would happen when you left me alone with him." Deacon arched his eyebrow at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I think you're just suspicious of me for no reason." Rayna hid a grin.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it. I would have no reason to suspect that you would ever be up to anything." He gave a sarcastic eye roll.

"Let's just get downstairs and eat. Tandy needs to get some food in her before she polishes off that bottle of wine all by herself." Rayna stood up and took his hand.

"That sounds like a damn fine idea to me." He laced their fingers together.

"You two are so cute that you make me sick sometimes." Tandy had to deal with them at work she shouldn't have to deal with them at home too.

* * *

"Peggy, I was thinking that I would go with you to your next doctor's appointment." Teddy broached the subject as he and Peggy laid in bed together.

"Teddy, that's really sweet of you, but you don't have to do that." Peggy smiled at him.

"I know that I don't have to, but I want to." He replied.

"No, really you don't have to come. I know how busy you are and everything is fine. If there was anything that you needed to know about I'd tell you." She rubbed his arm soothingly hoping to distract him.

"I'd like to come to at least one appointment. I don't want your doctor to think that I'm an uninterested father or something." He kissed the top of her head.

"In that case I'd love for you to come." She snuggled into with fake enthusiasm a fake smile plastered on her face. She didn't know how she was going to lie her way out of this one, but she would have to think of something soon.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry for the long wait and I hope it was worth it. Until next time please review.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 15

"Shh, ya'll get in here and be quiet 'bout it." Deacon ushered Maddie and Daphne into his and Rayna's bedroom. "Just hide over here, hurry she's wakin' up." He had them squat down beside his side of the bed. He got back into bed and acted like he was just waking up.

"Good mornin', handsome." Rayna pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Mornin', Ray," Deacon rubbed his nose against hers.

"Hold that thought your son is layin' on my bladder and I really gotta pee." Rayna got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

"It's show time." Deacon whispered lowly. He got down on one knee by the edge of the bed.

Rayna used the bathroom and she didn't realize anything was different until she washed her hands. Her engagement ring was on her finger. "Deacon! Oh my God! What is this?" She walked back into the bedroom and gasped when she saw him down on his knee.

"Baby, I love you so much, will you marry me?" Deacon asked her.

Rayna bent down the best she could and kissed him. "Yes, Deacon, yes I'll marry you."

"Yes!" Maddie and Daphne jumped up and hugged each other.

"Were you two in on this?" Rayna smiled at them.

"I can't say." Maddie tried to keep a straight face.

"I'm a vault." Daphne pretended to zip her lips.

"Deacon, you must pay very well to inspire that kind of loyalty." Rayna laughed. She was the happiest she'd been in a long time.

"I have no idea what you're talkin' 'bout." Deacon smirked. He pulled her to him and kissed her belly. "Bubba, she said yes. We're gettin' married."

"Of course you don't." Rayna laughed and pulled him to his feet so she could kiss him. "Babe, I don't think he cares. As a matter of fact, the only thing he really wants right now is for you to feed his momma so he can eat."

"That can be arranged. Maddie, Daphne, let's get on that." Deacon turned to the girls.

"Already on it, dad. We will be right back." Maddie left the room with Daphne.

"What are they up to?" Rayna asked.

"Why don't you get back in bed and you'll see?" Deacon suggested to her.

"I'm not gonna complain about that at all." Rayna climbed back into bed.

The girls came back upstairs a few minutes later carrying a breakfast tray for their mother.

"What is all this?" Rayna grinned from ear to ear.

"We made you and the baby breakfast." Daphne informed her.

"You girls did all this?" Rayna eyes welled up with tears of joy.

"We did. We had a little help from dad, but we wanted to do something special for you." Maddie answered her. She sat the tray of food on the bed.

"I love you three so much. This couldn't have been more perfect if you'd tried. Thank you so much." Rayna told them.

"We love you too." The three of them replied in unison.

Rayna took a bite of her food. "This is so good."

"Says the pregnant woman who would eat anythin' that we put in front of her." Deacon joked.

"That's not true at all. This boy doesn't really like sweet food." Rayna corrected him.

"Do you think daddy can have a bite of Bubba's food?" Deacon opened up and Rayna fed him a bite.

"You two girls get in this bed with us. There is room." Rayna urged her daughter's.

Maddie and Daphne climbed into bed with them.

"This is pretty damn perfect." Deacon grinned.

"I couldn't agree with you more, love." Rayna stole a kiss from him.

"Mom, can I get a bite?" Daphne asked.

"Well, of course you can, sweet girl." Rayna fed her a bite. "I gotta feed my other baby bird too. Open up, Maddie."

Maddie didn't put up a protest and she let her mom feed her a bite.

"I don't know what ya'll think, but I think you did a good job with breakfast." Deacon told the girls.

"They did very well." Rayna agreed with him.

"They'll be havin' you beat in no time." Deacon rested his hand on her belly.

"More power to 'em. Just remember you still gotta live with me after they leave the house." Rayna winked.

"They are gonna take me to college with 'em to save me from your cookin'." Deacon grinned and bit his lip.

"Darlin', you know better than that. It's always your night to cook." Rayna put her hand on his cheek and smiled at him.

"Mom, that's something we are all thankful for." Maddie chimed in.

"If that's how you and your daddy are gonna be I ain't sharin' no more of my food with you." Rayna pretended to be hurt.

* * *

Peggy looked around the bathroom and double checked her work. She was sure that she had the stage set nicely. She was currently sitting in the bathroom floor waiting for Teddy to get home from work. She hated that it had come to this, but she didn't know what else to do. He had been pressuring her to go to a doctor's appointment for the baby with her and she couldn't let that happen. He couldn't know that she had tricked him into marrying her.

"Peggy, I'm home. Where are you?" Teddy called out when he entered the house. "Peggy!"

Peggy didn't answer him. She took a moment to get into character. She could hear his footsteps getting closer.

"Peggy, are you in here?" Teddy tried when he got into their bedroom.

"I'm in here." Peggy called out weakly her voice laced with tears.

"Oh, Peggy." Teddy sounded crestfallen. He found her sitting on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood.

"I'm sorry, Teddy, I'm so sorry. I know how disappointed you must be." Peggy cried.

"No, no, shh, come on, don't worry about that. We need to get you cleaned up." Teddy took her hand and helped her up out of the floor.

"I don't know what happened. I just started cramping badly and then the blood came." Peggy buried her face in his chest.

"This isn't your fault. It was nothing you did. It's ok. If you really want to we can try again. Right now you need to get in the shower and I will clean this up." Teddy told her.

"No, don't, I'll do it." Peggy argued with him.

"Ok, whatever you want. I'll call your doctor for you." Teddy offered.

"You don't have to do that." Peggy replied.

"I know, but I want to." Teddy kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you," Peggy whispered softly.

"Do you need any help getting undressed?" Teddy asked.

"No, I think I can manage." Peggy nodded her head weakly.

"I'll go make this phone call and I will be back to check on you." Teddy kissed her head again and left the room.

Peggy waited until she was sure he was out of earshot and she breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure that she was going to pull that off. Teddy had been an easier sell than she'd thought he would be.

* * *

"I go out for a minute to run an errand and I come back to find Tandy here." Deacon groaned when he walked into the kitchen.

"You proposed a week ago and we haven't talked wedding stuff yet. I gave her time to let it sink in. Now it's time to get to work." Tandy had wedding magazines spread out all over the counter.

"I think that I'm just gonna let ya'll handle this and I will be in the music room where I can't possibly get roped into doin' somethin' I don't wanna do." Deacon turned on his heel to walk out of the room.

"Not so fast, babe, this is your wedding too. I want to know what you want." Rayna told him.

"Whatever you want is fine. I will go along with it like always." Deacon was a smart man he knew that it was in his best interests to give her what she wanted.

"You have to give me your opinion on a couple things. Do you want to get married before the baby is born? And do you want the huge formal thing or do you want something that is more us?" Rayna asked him.

"On the first question that doesn't matter to me. I would rather do somethin' that's more us. I don't think we need to make a big splashy thing outta it." Deacon replied.

"What do you say to a quick wedding ceremony with only our closest family and friends? We can always do a vow renewal later." Rayna suggested.

"I'd say that sounds damn good to me." Deacon was willing to go along with that.

"That's what we will do then. Something that is quick and painless before the baby gets here." Rayna was glad that they had that decided.

"Sounds perfect to me." Deacon agreed.

"That also makes our job much easier when it comes to making plans." Tandy made a few quick notes.

"Whatever you say. Now I'm gonna go hide out in the music room." Deacon tried to make his escape again.

"Go on. I won't force you to sit in here and go over all the boring details. I know that would be torture to you." Rayna laughed.

"You know me too well, babe." Deacon waved over his shoulder at her.

"Are you absolutely sure that you want to marry him?" Tandy asked her.

"Yes I'm sure that I want to marry him. I've wanted to marry him since I was barely older than Maddie." Rayna answered her.

"For your sake I hope she is more reasonable when it comes to boyfriends than you were." Tandy rolled her eyes.

"Tandy, you can pretend not to like Deacon all you want to. I know that it is just an act now." Rayna crossed her arms over her chest.

"We are not having this conversation again. If you want to get married before you get any bigger with that boy we have work to do." Tandy shut her down.

"You are no fun at all." Rayna stuck her tongue out at her.

"You have more than enough fun for the both of us, so I have to be the serious one." Tandy countered.

"Tandy, you don't have to pretend to be momma for me anymore. I'm a grown woman, I need my sister not a mother." Rayna told her.

"Rayna, I'm always gonna be protective of you. Get used to it." Tandy arched her eyebrow.

"Ok, let's plan this wedding." Rayna pouted.

"I knew you'd see things my way." Tandy smirked.

* * *

Maddie and Daphne sat together in the middle of her bed. They both looked up when Rayna knocked on the doorjamb.

"Is this a private party or is it alright if me and the baby join you?" Rayna asked them.

"Come in, mom." Maddie waved her in.

Rayna sat down on the edge of the bed. "What are you two up to in here?"

"Nothing, we were just talking." Daphne replied.

"It looked like a pretty serious talk. Is everything ok?" Rayna just wanted to make sure that they were ok with all the changes going on in their lives.

"Everything is fine, mom." Maddie assured her.

"That's good, but it's ok if there is something on your minds too. You two can tell me anything you know that." Rayna put an arm around each of them.

Daphne gave her sister a look like she wanted her to do the talking.

"Well, mom, you see we were just thinking that maybe we don't want to go to dad's the next time we have to. It's not that we don't want to see him it's just Peggy. We barely saw him the whole time we were there because she had to have him with her nearly every second." Maddie explained.

"Did, ya'll tell him how you felt?" Rayna asked.

"Mom, we couldn't even get him alone for two seconds. Every time he sat down to even talk to us Peggy would call him for something." Daphne answered.

Rayna frowned. That didn't sound like the Teddy she knew at all. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. I don't think that's normal, mom." Maddie answered.

"It's like she doesn't want dad to pay any attention to us at all. Deacon isn't like that. I love him. He doesn't try to take up all your time or push us out." Daphne added.

"I'll tell ya'll what. I'll talk to him and tell him how you're feeling. If after that nothing changes and you wanna come home or you don't wanna go over there I'll support you. Being an adult is very complicated and it gets even more complicated when you become a parent, but we are all doin' the best we can." Rayna hugged them tightly.

"You're the best, mom." Maddie laid her head on her shoulder.

"Thank you, mom." Daphne hugged her and put one of her hands on her belly.

"I'd do anythin' in this world for my two favorite girls." Rayna kissed both their heads.

"I love you, mom." Maddie kissed her cheek.

"I love you too, momma." Daphne snuggled into her side.

"Momma loves ya'll too." Rayna smiled. That show of affection from Maddie meant the world to her. She had been closed off with her since she found out that Deacon was her father.

"So when are you and dad getting married?" Maddie asked her.

"Yeah, we are very excited for this." Daphne chirped.

"We decided to just go for it and we are going to get married in a few days. We don't need some big fancy wedding. The only thing we decided we absolutely had to have was the two of you there." Rayna tickled their sides.

"Really, that soon?" Maddie sounded a little surprised.

"That's awesome." Daphne just went with the flow.

"Yes, that soon. If you haven't noticed I'm not getting any smaller here. I don't wanna look like a whale on my wedding day." Rayna laughed.

"I'm sure that Deacon would still think that you're the most beautiful woman in the world." Daphne supplied helpfully.

"He better this is his baby too." Rayna winked at her.

"Daph, we really have to get to work then." Maddie told her sister.

"I know," Daphne nodded her head in agreement.

"What are you two talking about?" Rayna looked between them.

"Nothing." They answered her at the same time.

"I see ya'll are up to something that you don't want me to know about. It's not nice to keep secrets from your momma." Rayna tickled them again.

Both girls erupted with laughter.

"Stop, mom, that's cheating." Maddie giggled.

"Yeah, no fair!" Daphne got out between peals of laughter.

"What's not fair is you two won't tell me what you're trying to keep a secret." Rayna laughed with them.

"Uh oh, I think I hear the sound of two little girls bein' tortured in here. I thought I better come in and rescue 'em." Deacon came into the room with a huge grin on his face.

"Deacon, help us." Daphne reached out for him.

"Make her stop, dad." Maddie begged.

Deacon scooped Daphne up into his arms. "You're safe, I've got you." He grabbed both of Rayna's writs and held them in one of his hands. "Ok, Ray, that's enough."

"I'm trying to get information out of them, Deacon." Rayna informed him.

Deacon sat Daphne down on the floor. "What kind of information?"

"I don't know. I hadn't gotten that far yet. They are keeping secrets though." Rayna told him.

"Ok, it's time for you two to go now. Thanks for stopping by. Daph and I have work to do." Maddie herded them out of her room and shut the door in their faces.

"I think we just got kicked out." Deacon chuckled.

"I'm sure whatever they are up to is harmless." Rayna took his hand.

"They are good girls. There's just no tellin' with them what they're doin'." Deacon kissed her hand.

"Regret moving in here yet?" Rayna asked.

"Not at all. My life is so much richer with you three in it." Deacon walked with her to their bedroom.

"All I know is havin' you here feels so right." Rayna replied.

"I know it does." Deacon agreed with her.

"It's kinda like you were meant to be here or something like that." Rayna crawled into bed.

"This is what we were always meant to have together. It just took us a little longer to get here than we thought it would." Deacon got into bed next to her.

"They are really excited about the wedding. I didn't expect that because of all the resistance they put up to Teddy getting married." Rayna mused.

"Well, you also ain't marryin' the man that you cheated on Teddy with. Trust me on this one Maddie dislikes Peggy just 'bout as much as you do and that's sayin' somethin'." Deacon put his arm around her.

"I just can't stand her and it's very hard to pretend like I can. Her and her little friends always thought that they were better than everyone else." Rayna seethed just thinking about it.

"Look at it this way. At least she did you a favor and helped you get out of a marriage that you didn't wanna be in any longer." Deacon tried to get her to look on the bright side.

"I love this grown up version of the man I fell in love with." Rayna grinned at him.

"Yeah I kinda like him too. He thinks before he speaks and he makes better choices than the old me." Deacon agreed. He put his hand on her belly and rubbed it. "He's the kind of man that he wants his unborn son to be." He slid down the bed and kissed her belly.

"I wouldn't mind having a little mini version of you running around here. I'm sure that he could keep things interesting to say the least." Rayna threaded her fingers through his hair.

"I think he's gonna be a little character and there ain't never gonna be a dull moment with him 'round. He's probably gonna give his sisters hell and make them wish they could sell him. He's gonna be his daddy's best buddy and go fishin' and play guitar with me. He's gonna have his momma wrapped 'round his little finger all he's gonna have to do is look at ya and you'll melt." Deacon said thoughtfully.

"You've given this a lot of thought haven't you, babe?" Rayna laughed softly.

"Don't think that I'm crazy or anythin', but when we thought that we'd lost him I dreamed 'bout him." Deacon admitted.

"I don't think you're crazy at all, babe. I dreamed 'bout him too. Hell, I even dreamed 'bout my momma. Or at least I think it was a dream. It seemed so real like she was right there with me. I think it's possible that I'm the crazy one." Rayna replied. That was the first time she had told anyone about the dreams she'd had about her mother.

"That doesn't sound all that crazy to me, Ray. Who's to say that the people we love that have passed on can't find some way to come to us when they know we need 'em. A mother's love transcends everythin' and I just don't see how anythin' at all could stop that. It's a powerful link." Deacon looked up at her.

"It's official, you're perfect. I can't argue with that logic. I know there is nothin' that could stop me from gettin' to my babies if they needed me not even death. Or it could have just been my mind givin' me what I needed. I want to go with your version though. It's a much nicer thought." Rayna smiled.

"I ain't used to bein' called perfect or bein' told I'm right. I'm just gonna bask in that feelin' for a minute." Deacon joked.

"Yeah, you better hold on to that for a while. Knowing you the way I do you'll do something to mess up soon." Rayna teased him back.

"Hey now, just a minute ago I was perfect." Deacon crawled up and kissed her.

"You're far from perfect you're just perfect for me. I don't mind your flaws at all. They are part of what makes you, you. And I happen to love every part of you." Rayna rubbed his cheek gently with the back of her hand.

"I love every part of you too. Even the pampered diva part that you let come out sometimes." Deacon rubbed his nose against hers.

"Now that you mention it I do love when you cater to my every whim. What woman wouldn't want a man who is willing to do that for her?" Rayna wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her.

"I'm willin' to do anythin' for you, except not love you. I don't know how to do that. I don't think I can do that." He admitted.

"That's the one thing I can't do for you either. Even when I was burying my feelings the love was still there. There were times when I thought it was going to burn me up inside. Having you so close to me and not being able to have you the way I wanted you was torture for me. Seeing how perfect you and Maddie looked together and how great you were with her killed me a little inside. I think that was my punishment for keeping ya'll from each other. Seeing you two together never ceased to melt me. You two loved each other so and you didn't even realize your connection. You always had that father-daughter connection even if you didn't know that's what you were to each other. She never fussed for Teddy if you were around. When she was a baby I think she knew what I hadn't told either of you." Rayna allowed herself to ramble a little bit she had earned it.

"I fell in love with that little girl the first time I laid eyes on her. It wasn't just because she was part of you. I couldn't explain it. The only thing I knew was I never wanted to let her down the way I'd let you down. That's what kept me from drinkin' the night I found out 'bout her. I wanted to do it to hurt you so badly, but I couldn't all I could see was my little girl on my doorstep in tears. All I could remember was I promised her when she was a baby that as long as God would just let me be a part of her life I wouldn't take another drink. Honestly if she hadn't turned to me to lean on those first few days after we found out I don't know what I would have done. But, I couldn't even think 'bout slippin' while I had her there with me. I couldn't show her the side of me that you were tryin' to protect her from when you kept her from me. I never want any of my babies to see that side of me." Deacon got all of that off his chest.

"I remember how excited you were when you saw how she reacted to her fingers being put on guitar strings. It was absolutely adorable and it was just one more way you two were alike. I don't know if you've noticed it or not, but she also does that thing where she likes to be alone to think before she's ready to talk about whatever is on her mind. She is so much like you, babe. That was both my blessing and my curse over the years. I got to have this little girl who was so much like the man I loved, but I couldn't share that with you. I love my baby girl don't get me wrong, but had I known you would have reacted so well to findin' out 'bout Maddie I would have told you much sooner and spared us all a lot of pain." Rayna rested her forehead against his.

"Then here is what we will do instead of wastin' time on a bunch of regret that ain't gonna help anythin'. We are gonna be thankful for Daphne. I know that she ain't mine, but I love her like she is. I don't wanna know what our lives would be like without her here. I wanna stay sober for you, Maddie, and the baby, but Daphne she makes me wanna be as good as she sees me so I don't ever let her down. She is truly the most beautiful and pure person that I've ever known inside and out." Deacon rubbed her back.

Rayna took a ragged breath and a tear spilled down her cheek. That reaction was thanks to her hormones. "Baby, that was the most beautiful thing that I have ever heard and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving my little girl so much. The fact that you're so good to them makes it so much easier on them. They have an experience with the other side of the coin and I'm glad that they don't have to put up with that here."

Deacon wiped her tear away with the pad of his thumb. "What's goin' on? Is there somethin' we need to do?"

"It's just Peggy. I don't think she particularly wants them around and she tries to keep Teddy all to herself. I don't know who the hell that woman thinks she is. If she wanted a man that could put all his attention on her she shouldn't have gone after a man with children." Rayna's eyes turned cold as she talked about Peggy.

"She's Teddy's problem to deal with not ours. If he'd rather have her than a relationship with his kids then that's on him. I don't see him bein' that stupid though."

"He's not that stupid. I know for a fact that he really loves those girls. That's why I'm gonna talk to him and tell him how the girls are feeling. If he's still the man I think he is he will do whatever he has to, to make it right." Rayna yawned a little.

"That's somethin' that you're gonna save for tomorrow. Tonight you and my boy need your sleep." Deacon reached over and turned the light off.

Rayna snuggled into him and buried her face in his neck. "You're right. Night, babe, I love you."

"I love you too, Ray. I love you so damn much." Deacon kissed the top of her head and held her close to him.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry for the long wait my muse kinda left me for a minute. I have every intention of carrying on with this story. My other stories just come first and I work on this one when a really good idea strikes me and I'm on a roll. I don't just wanna put something down just for the sake of doing it and give you a crappy story. Until next time please review.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 16

"You girls getting settled in alright?" Rayna walked into the bedroom that her daughters were sharing for the night. Deacon had rented them this rustic cabin to stay in while he stayed in his cabin. They had reluctantly agreed to being apart the night before their wedding.

"We are fine, mom. This place is really great." Maddie replied.

"What Maddie said." Daphne agreed with her sister.

"You two know if there's anything that you want to talk about or any concerns you have you can tell me right? More than anything I want to marry Deacon tomorrow, but I won't if you two aren't on board with it." Rayna wanted to make sure that they knew how important they still were to her.

"Mom, we love dad and we can't wait for him to be part of the family." Maddie made a face when she heard how that had sounded.

"He has included us in everything and he makes sure that we have plenty of time together. He even sits and helps me with my homework and he's has started letting me take guitar lessons with him." Daphne went on.

"I know that he's good to all of us. I just wanted to make sure that you girls don't feel like you're being replaced or anything silly like that." Rayna smiled softly.

"Not at all. Dad doesn't try to hog you or push us out." Maddie sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Mom, we can say or ask anything at all right now?" Daphne looked up at her.

"Anything you want to say or ask right now you can." Rayna confirmed. She put her hands in the small of her back to support her growing belly.

"Did you ever love my dad?" Daphne asked her.

"Yeah I did. Your dad was my hero when I needed one. He took me and Maddie in and he loved us no questions asked. And then he gave me you. There's a part of me that will always love him for that too." Rayna phrased that as well as she could. She had loved Teddy she just hadn't been in love with him.

Maddie chewed on her bottom lip now and looked worried. "Mom, can I ask something now?"

"Of course you can, Maddie." Rayna sat down on the bed in between her daughters.

"How do you know that dad won't go back to how he used to be? I know that that could happen." Maddie picked at her fingernails.

"I don't know that. I have to have faith that if he feels himself slipping he will tell me and we will work through it together. Your daddy is a lot stronger than he was back when I was pregnant with you. He gets up and fights the urge to drink every day. He makes the choice not to drink and he's done it your whole life, Maddie. Do you know how I know he's strong enough to handle it? The Deacon I used to know would have gotten drunk when he found out you are his daughter. He didn't do that instead he opened his arms to you and he gave you the love that you needed in that moment." Rayna put her arm around her oldest child.

"He said that he put you through a lot when he was drinking and that he wasn't always a nice person. I'm just scared that he will go back to that." Maddie admitted.

"Come here, you two," Rayna pulled both her daughters close to her. "This is a talk that we will probably need to have with Deacon too, but for right now the three of us and your little brother are gonna have it. I put a lot of blame on Deacon for the choice I made to keep you apart. The blame wasn't his though it was mine. It was also partially my fault that he got as bad as he did. I didn't understand his disease back then now I do. I used to think that the only reason he couldn't stay sober was because he didn't want to or he wasn't trying hard enough. So, every time he failed at it I'd get mad and disappointed. What I didn't know was he did want to get sober and he tried and he was just as disappointed as I was every time he didn't succeed. It wasn't that he didn't love me enough not to drink. He tried for me every day. He just didn't always succeed at it. I promise you girls this. No matter how much I love him I am a momma first and if he ever slips and doesn't get help I will not put you three in the position of having to live with a drunk. I will leave him until he gets help and it's safe to be around him again. Sober he's the best man in the world. If he's on a binge then all bets are off." She wiped a tear away from her cheek.

"He wouldn't hurt us would he?" Daphne asked.

"Drunk or sober I can promise you that he would never hurt us. He would rather die than ever hurt any of us. I promise you that. I can't tell you that part of the story because it's his to tell you when he's ready, but just trust me when I say we are safe with him. He's strong enough to fight it though. He's been doing a very good job of it. There are times he's gonna feel weak though. And that's when it's our job to help him be strong. Just give him a little extra love and remind him of all the good things that he has in his life." Rayna kissed Daphne's head.

"Mom, was he like that the whole time you dated before?" Maddie asked.

"No he wasn't. That was just a small part of who he used to be. He's always been a very good man. I sensed that in him the first night I saw him in the Bluebird. Before we'd even spoken a word to each other I knew that I was in love with him and he was a damn good man." Rayna wiped a few more tears away.

"Was he your Prince Charming, mom?" Daphne giggled.

"He was more like my knight in a rusty pickup truck with a beat up old guitar. I said he was a good man and that's true, but Deacon was a little bit of what could be considered a bad boy. I was only sixteen so I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. There were a few times I thought that we were destined to burn each other up, but we never did we just danced around the edges of those flames." Rayna tried to get her emotions under control.

"Woman, get them pregnancy hormones under control and stop cryin' over nothin'." Maddie did a pretty credible impression of Deacon. He liked to tease Rayna about crying over something as simple as a tv commercial.

"Excuse you, Little Deacon?" Rayna teased her.

"You heard me. I said quit cryin' for no reason." Maddie laughed.

"That's it, I'm telling my sister that you're being mean to me and she's gonna get you." Rayna stood up. "Tandy!" She called out for her sister.

Tandy came down the hall. "What are you yelling about?"

"Maddie's being mean to me and I want you to get her. You're my big sister you're supposed to protect me." Rayna winked at her.

Tandy gave her a withering look. "I think you can hold your own against Maddie. You don't need my help. You should know how to deal with her she's just like you were as a teenager."

"That's really nice my own sister won't fight my battles for me anymore." Rayna laughed.

"If you really needed me to I would, but she's thirteen you can take her." Tandy put her arm around Rayna's shoulders.

"Daph, I really hope we aren't like them when we get older." Maddie looked at Daphne warily.

"I don't think that's normal." Daphne nodded in agreement.

Tandy put her hand on Rayna's belly and rubbed it. "You both hush. Come on we need to feed your brother some real food for dinner. There is no telling what your mother has fed him today."

"See how mean she is to me? This right here I why I used to read her diary." Rayna laughed.

"You read my diary because you were nosy and you wanted to. Let's go eat. That way we can get started on our nails and our movie marathon." Tandy just shook her head at her sister.

"Mom, what do you think dad is doing right now?" Maddie asked.

"I think your dad is probably doing whatever it is he does when he's alone. Playing his guitar to his heart's content. Or it's possible that he's watching Old Yeller. Though it's not his birthday so we will have to ask him about that." Rayna answered her.

There was a knock on the front door.

"I've got it." Tandy opened the door.

"Is it ok if I come in? I just can't stay with my uncle for another minute." Scarlett said.

"Scarlett, come on in. What's he doin' that's so bad?" Rayna asked.

"Rayna, he's watchin' westerns and playin' guitar. I couldn't stay there a minute longer and watch that train wreck. As I was leavin' Luke showed up so I don't know what's goin' on." Scarlett informed her.

"Scarlett, you can stay the night with us. That man obviously isn't fit enough to have real company." Tandy welcomed her with open arms.

"Yeah, if Luke is there be glared that you're not. No worries you can hang with us. The only boy allowed here tonight is little Bubba Claybourne." Rayna pointed at her belly.

"You better watch out he'll really try to name him that." Scarlett warned her.

"I know. You forget I know your uncle better than you do." Rayna laughed.

* * *

"You wanna tell me how this is your damn weddin' and you got me roped into doin' work?" Luke complained to Deacon the next morning as they sat up the wedding arch. It was rustic looking and covered in mason jars that had little white candles in them.

"You're the one who offered. This was the only way to keep it a secret." Deacon reminded him. Rayna's mother had owned some property not far from where the cabin was. It had fallen on him and Luke to set up everything for the wedding. He'd also gotten Gunnar and Will to help.

"Deacon, how do these chairs look?" Will asked.

"They look good to me. You might want to check with the boss after she gets here, but I say they are fine." Deacon replied after he had looked them over.

"Then our work here is done." Gunnar announced.

"And we are done here. Now the only thing we have to do is go back to my cabin and get ready. There's a couple of hours to kill yet." Deacon consulted his watch.

"Let's get goin' then before your bride to be thinks of something else that needs to be done." Will said.

Bucky pulled up in his car and got out. "Hey, guys." He waved at them.

"What does she want done now, Buck?" Deacon groaned.

"She doesn't want anything done. The older redhead sent me over here to make sure that you guys were actually doing what you were supposed to be doing. It looks good to me and that's what I'll tell her." Bucky replied.

"The big sister is an even bigger pain in the ass than the little sister." Deacon grumbled.

"I'd debate that wisdom with you, but there aren't enough hours in the day. They both have their more undesirable qualities, but I think we both know better than to list them." Bucky scratched the top of his head.

"Exactly, my lips are sealed on that one." Deacon agreed with him.

"If you want to go start getting ready I will stay here and wait for the photographer to show up. One of them is already with the girls. One is coming here. And another one is stopping by your place." Bucky listed for him.

"Thanks, Buck, I've got it under control from here. If this is their version of a small intimate weddin' I would hate to see what a big over the top weddin' looks like." Deacon clapped him on the back.

"Believe me it's not pretty." Bucky snorted.

"With the two of them it's probably more work than it's worth." Deacon laughed.

"You've got that right." Bucky couldn't disagree with him on that one.

* * *

"Tandy, you don't think I look too fat in this dress do you?" Rayna wore a loose flowing white dress. It was simple keeping with the theme. She wore calf length cowboy boots with it.

"Rayna, honestly I can hardly tell that you're pregnant. The only reason I notice is because I know you are. You got lucky and baby boy in there decided to cooperate with you. Your belly is barely noticeable and that dress covers it well. You look gorgeous." Tandy reassured her.

"I've waited so long for this, Tandy. I just want everything to be perfect." Rayna stressed to her.

"You just take a deep breath and focus on Deacon and how much he loves you. You let your big sister worry about making sure everything is perfect for you." Tandy squeezed her shoulder affectionately.

"You really are the best big sister a girl could ask for." Rayna smiled at her.

"I know I am." Tandy smirked.

 **XXXXXXXXXXX**

"Maddie, what do you think, baby girl? Tucked or untucked?" Deacon fiddle around with the dark blue flannel shirt that he wore. He had on jeans and his trusty pair of boots as well. He and Rayna had decided to keep things casual and really be true to themselves with this ceremony.

"Untucked for sure, dad, it's more you." Maddie pulled his shirt out of his pants. She'd come over for a little bit to help him get ready. She thought that it was only fair she spend some time with him before the ceremony too. This was a memory that they could have together.

"Untucked it is then." Deacon studied himself in the full length bedroom mirror that Rayna had insisted on when he first bought the place.

"You're so handsome, daddy. Mom's not gonna know what hit her when she sees you." Maddie grinned at him.

"She sees me like this every day." Deacon laughed. He picked up the bright orange rose that he was supposed to pin to his shirt. "You wouldn't happen to know how to put one of these on would ya?"

"No, but I can try." Maddie took the flower from him and secured it to his shirt.

The photographer just so happened to be standing in the doorway and got a picture of the tender moment between father and daughter.

"Thanks, baby girl." Deacon kissed the top of her head.

"You're welcome, dad." Maddie hugged him around the waist.

"Let's go see if these other goons are ready. And then I need to send you back to your momma." Deacon led her downstairs.

"Hey, dad?" Maddie looked up at him.

"Yes, my princess." Deacon smiled. He loved that she lit up when he referred to her as that.

"Do you think maybe we could come up here sometime before the baby is born?" Maddie asked. This was her first time at the cabin.

"We can do that for sure. We are gonna be comin' up here all the time. This is a very special place to your momma and me. We can come here any time you want." Deacon promised her.

"Thanks, dad." Maddie smiled brightly.

* * *

"Well, Deacon, it's about time that you got this girl to the alter." Watty commented to Deacon. He was acting as their officiant.

"I couldn't agree with you more, Wat. Now we just have to get her here on time." Deacon chuckled.

"She'll be late for her own funeral and forget the casket." Luke added.

"Wheels Up, don't be sayin' anythin' that could get me in trouble just for hearin' it." Deacon joked with him.

"Whatever you say, Freakin' Deacon. I'm just here to look pretty and keep ya company so you ain't the only man in this weddin' party." Luke teased right back.

"You still have the stuff I gave you right?" Deacon double checked.

"Yes I have it in my pocket." Luke patted his shirt pocket. He was attired the same way as Deacon. He had even lost his cowboy hat for the occasion. Him and Scarlett were Deacon's part of the wedding party while Rayna had her sister and the girls.

A SUV pulled up and Tandy, Scarlett, Maddie, and Daphne got out of it. The band started to play and they took their places at the altar.

Tandy paused and kissed Deacon's cheek. "If you hurt my baby sister I will come after you with the force of a hurricane."

"I understand." Deacon replied.

A red 1967 Chevy step side truck pulled up. Lamar opened the passenger side door and helped Rayna out. He then walked her down the aisle to Deacon.

Deacon's breath hitched in his throat. She was still without a doubt the most beautiful woman he'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. He smiled and ran his thumb across the back of Rayna's hand.

Rayna smiled back at him and got lost in his eyes for a moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen we are gathered here today to finally witness the union of Rayna Jaymes and Deacon Claybourne. If anyone knows of any reason that these two should not be joined speak now or forever hold your peace." Watty began the ceremony. "Who gives this woman to this man?"

"My girls and I do." Lamar answered and then he took his seat.

"I think that we've all waited long enough for this, so I'm gonna keep this short sweet and to the point. Deacon, recite your vows." Watty went on.

Deacon took both of Rayna's hands and stared deeply into her eyes. "Baby, I've screwed up with you a hundred different times and a hundred different ways. Through it all you always found a way to forgive me. You forgave me even when I didn't deserve it. I promise you here and now that I'm not that man anymore. I am a husband and a father and I'm a man that is finally worthy of your love and devotion. I've loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you and I will love you long after the last breath leaves my body."

"Now, Rayna, recite your vows to Deacon." Watty instructed her.

"Deacon, you're not the only one in this relationship who has made mistakes. I've made my fair share of them too, but no matter what I've said or done you've always been there by my side defending me even when I'm wrong. Like steel forged in the fire our love is stronger for all the challenges we've been through. You are my first, my last, and my always. You are the kind of man I want our girls to fall in love with. You've always loved me better than anyone else and I plan to spend the rest of my life returning that favor." Rayna swiped a tear away quickly before she messed up her makeup.

"Now, for the rings." Watty held his hand out. Scarlett handed him one ring and Tandy handed him the other. "Deacon, you first."

Deacon took the ring out of Watty's hand and slipped on Rayna's finger. "Take this ring as a symbol of my love and devotion to you. Just as there is no end or beginning to this ring there is no end or beginning to my love for you."

Rayna took the other ring from Watty and put it on Deacon's finger. "Wear this ring as a reminder of my love for you and my pride in calling you my husband."

"Deacon decided to flip the script a little bit on us, so Luke you're up." Watty said.

Luke took two silk pouches out of his shirt pocket and opened them up.

"Maddie, Daphne, come here please." Deacon waved them over.

Luke handed Deacon a bracelet with an infinity symbol charm on it. "There's one."

Deacon fastened it around Maddie's wrist.

"There's two." Luke handed him the other one.

Deacon fastened this one around Daphne's wrist. He took each of the girls' hands. "Maddie, Daphne, this is a symbol of my never endin' love for both of you. It's a reminder that family is forever. There is no place too far or nothin' you can do that's so bad that I won't always be there for you when you need me. You are my little girls now and forever."

Rayna watched him with tears in her eyes as he kissed each of their cheeks. She smiled when he took her hands again.

"Now by the power vested in me by the state of Tennessee and the Mother Church of Country Music. I pronounce you husband and wife. Deacon, go on and kiss her I'm surprised you held off this long." Watty drew the expected laughter with that comment.

Deacon dipped Rayna back and planted a lingering kiss on her lips. After a moment he brought back upright his eyes twinkling.

"Ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Deacon John Claybourne." Watty cheered.

"Baby, I had no idea you were gonna do that for the girls it was incredibly sweet." Rayna leaned against his side.

"I didn't want them to feel left out. I married them today as much as I married you." Deacon replied like it was no big deal.

"Those little girls are both extremely lucky to have you for a daddy and a second daddy in Daphne's case." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"I'm lucky to have them. They make my world a brighter place. Just like their momma." Deacon reached down and put his hand on her belly. "We did it, Bubba."

Rayna put her hand on top of his. "We sure did. I think he knew it was a special occasion he behaved and everything."

"Can we get these pictures done and over with so we can get to the reception?" Deacon asked her.

"Yes, don't be difficult about this, Mr. Claybourne." Rayna swatted his chest playfully.

"I'll be as difficult as I want to be and you'll enjoy it, Mrs. Claybourne." Deacon had to try it on for size and he loved the way it sounded.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry for the long wait. Next chapter I'm gonna add a little bit of the reception and wedding night. I couldn't cheat you guys out of that. I just didn't want to make this chapter too long. Until next time please review.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 17

" _We were young and restless pocket full of stars. Chasing down the moonlight until the night was ours."_ Maddie started singing the song that she and Daphne had written for Rayna and Deacon.

" _All we ever wanted all we ever needed was love."_ The girls harmonized.

Rayna reached over and took Deacon's hand. She was so in love with that man that it wasn't funny.

"They really are good at this." Deacon whispered lowly.

"They are better than they even know." Rayna whispered back.

" _You think you have the answers when you're just a kid. We took a lot of chances. Oh, the things we did. All we ever wanted all we ever needed was love."_ They sang this part together.

" _Sometimes those memories can be hard to take. We all remember the time before you ever felt your heart break. You never were the same."_

Deacon planted a kiss on Rayna's cheek. "I love you, Ray."

"I love you too, babe." Rayna leaned into him. She took his hand and put it on her belly.

" _I won't make excuses. I have no regrets. I know what the truth is. I will not forget. All we ever wanted all we ever needed was love."_

Deacon smiled when he felt a kick to his hand. "Was that him?"

"Yeah, that's him." Rayna smiled.

" _Sometimes those memories can be hard to take. We all remember the time before you ever felt your heart break. And you never were the same. All we wanted all we ever needed. All we ever wanted all we ever needed was love."_ Maddie and Daphne finished singing.

"He's pretty strong for a little guy." Deacon grinned goofily.

"He's his father's son." Rayna replied. She stood up and opened her arms to her daughters. "Come here, girls, that was so good." She hugged them tight.

Deacon hugged them next. "Thank you so much for that."

"You're welcome, dad." Maddie smiled up at him.

"We wanted to do something special for you, Deacon." Daphne chirped happily.

"Do you guys want to feel something else that's special?" Rayna took each of their hands and put them on her belly. "Your brother wants to say hi. He started kicking while you were singing."

"Really!" Daphne exclaimed.

"He did?" Maddie tried to play it cool, but she was really excited.

"He sure did. I think that means he likes your singing." Rayna told them.

"He knows good music when he hears it." Deacon added. He put his hand on Rayna's belly too.

Rayna put her hand on top of Deacon's.

Tandy got the attention of a photographer. "Get a picture of that." She had to smile. She couldn't help it. No matter how much she claimed to not like Deacon the sight of them together as a family warmed her heart.

"He grows on you after a while doesn't he?" Scarlett moved over to stand beside her.

"He's good to them. That's all I can ask for. He loves them all obviously." Tandy admitted grudgingly.

"Him and Rayna are good for each other they always have been. There is no talkin' sense to either of them when it comes to the other one." Scarlett pointed out to her.

"I know that better than anyone. Let's talk about you and that boy that follows you around like a little lost puppy." Tandy referred to Gunnar.

"He asked me to marry him. I said no. He took that as the only other option was we had to break up. If he's still moonin' after me it's his own damn fault." Scarlett crossed her arms.

"Since I'm basically your aunt now I'm gonna give you a piece of advice. Don't let two decades go by and realize that he's the one you want." Tandy advised her.

"Why are men so stupid?" Scarlett asked.

"I have absolutely no idea. If I did I'd still be married or I would have never married him to begin with. I can't decide which at the moment." Tandy patted her back.

"And they say that women are a mystery." Scarlett groaned.

"Men are the bigger mystery by far. Like I said though, if you're still into him you need to tell him. There's no sense in wasting time if you don't have to." Tandy repeated herself.

"I'll take that under advisement." Scarlett didn't really know what else to say on the matter.

* * *

"Now wait a minute and don't you go tryin' to get out of the truck by yourself, Ray." Deacon warned her when they pulled into the driveway of the cabin.

"Ok, I'm waiting." Rayna made no move to get out of the truck.

Deacon hurried around to her side of the truck and opened the door for her. Before she could make a move to get out he scooped her up into his arms.

Rayna let out a giggle and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What in the world do you think you're doin'?"

"I'm carryin' my bride over the threshold that's what I'm doin'." Deacon carried her up on the porch and managed to get the door unlocked without dropping her.

"Don't drop me. I'm not as light as you think I am." Rayna hung on to him a little tighter.

Deacon swung the door open and carried her to the couch. "You ain't ever gonna be too heavy for me." He sat her down.

"You did a damn fine job for a man with two busted wrists." Rayna grinned up at him.

"I did my best, babe. I'm still healin' up." Deacon started a fire in the fireplace and he spread a bunch of blankets out in a pallet on the floor.

"You did good you got it just right." Rayna praised him.

Deacon sat down on the couch beside her. "You're my wife you have to say that." He got a goofy grin on his face from saying the word wife.

"Say it again, babe." Rayna wrapped both her arms around one of his.

"You're my wife." Deacon leaned over and whispered huskily in her ear.

"And you're my husband." Rayna nuzzled his neck with her lips.

"I'm gonna need you to say that again." Deacon just liked the way that word sounded coming out of her mouth. He'd thought that he'd never hear that from her about himself.

"You. Are. My. Husband." Rayna punctuated each word with a kiss along his jawline.

Deacon put his fingers under her chin and turned her head so he could kiss her on the lips.

Rayna started undoing the buttons on his flannel shirt.

Deacon slipped the straps of her dress off her shoulders and he kissed each one. He kissed along her collarbone to her neck. One his hands slid around to her back and lowered the zipper on the back of her dress.

Rayna took her time unbuttoning his shirt. She pushed it down off his shoulders and then ran her hands up and down his abs. "I'd say that we aren't gonna have much of a wedding night, but that would be a lie."

"I just can't go flippin' you upside down or anythin' crazy." Deacon buried his face between her breasts. He bit, licked, and sucked the spot teasingly.

Rayna threaded her fingers up in the back of his hair and moaned softly pressing her pelvis against him. With her other hand she undid his belt and jeans. She rubbed her hand over the growing bulge in the front of his boxers.

Deacon slid his hand underneath her dress to her panty covered mound. He rubbed his hand against the crotch of her panties and he could feel how wet she was for him. "Ray, get me outta my boxers." He lifted his hips to help her.

Rayna worked his pants and boxers down.

Deacon kicked his boots off and then he pulled Rayna's off and tossed them across the room. He pulled her dress over her head. He slid her panties down her legs. He took his erection into his hand. "Come on, baby. I can't wait another second."

Rayna straddled him and sank down onto him with a loud moan. "Christ, Deacon!"

Deacon brought his hands up to her breasts and kneaded them gently. He was careful because he knew how tender they were. "Damn, Ray." He rocked his hips up to meet hers.

"You are so damn big, baby." Rayna put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.

Deacon put his hands on her hips and guided her up and down his turgid shaft. "You got no idea how much I love hearin' that."

She buried her face in his neck and left a hickey in the juncture between it and his collarbone.

He moaned and rocked his hips faster. She drove him absolutely crazy in the best way possible.

"I love you." She nibbled on his earlobe.

"I love you too." He panted back. He flipped them over so that he was on top of her and he started to pound away.

"Fuck me, babe." She panted out.

He pinned her arms above her head and bit and sucked on her neck. He thrust in and out of her rapidly.

She arched her back up off the couch and pressed her chest against his. "I'm so, so close, baby." She muttered feverishly against his skin.

He took both her wrists in one of his hands and used his free hand to rub her clit. "Go on, come for me, baby."

She came with a loud moan.

He continued to thrust for a few more minutes before he came and she came with him again.

"Oh my God, baby, that was incredible." Rayna panted.

"That was pretty damn amazin'." Deacon breathed heavily.

"That right there is the kind of sex that gets you pregnant. So it's a damn good thing that I'm already pregnant." Rayna chuckled.

"That's how you figure it?" Deacon rolled off the couch and onto the pallet on the floor. He held his hand out to her.

"Yeah, that's how I figure it." Rayna took his hand.

Deacon pulled her down on top of him and started kissing her.

"You can't be goin' for round two already? I'm gonna need at least ten minutes to recover from the earth shattering orgasm you gave me. They were both good, but that last one was wow." Rayna kissed his chest.

"I think I'll be recovered in another ten minutes too. That's what the make out session was for." Deacon ran his hands up and down her back.

"Darlin', I've been with you a long time you don't need no ten minutes to recover." Rayna laughed.

"Damn right I don't." Deacon's chest puffed out with pride.

"I love you so much. Don't ever change." Rayna rubbed her nose against his.

"I love you too. Don't you change a thing either. Especially this cute, pert little ass." Deacon smacked her ass playfully.

"Hey, hands to yourself, mister." Rayna pinched the sensitive skin of his inner thigh.

"Ow! I barely swatted you. That hurt like a bitch." Deacon yelped. He put his hand on her belly. "Bubba, your momma is bein' mean to your daddy."

"You totally deserved it. And he is on my side." Rayna rolled flat on her back.

"He's on my side as the only other Claybourne man in this family." Deacon corrected her. "Now, you just lay there a minute and let me get a good look at ya. I've seen you naked many times before, but this is the first time I'm seein' my wife naked and your pregnant body fascinates me. It's amazin', babe. You have this glow 'bout you and there's just all these changes. It seriously amazes me." He ran his hand over her belly lovingly.

"I love how much you love my pregnant body. Your face lights up like a little boy on Christmas Mornin'. You make me feel attractive and wanted. I know I shouldn't say what I'm about to say, but Teddy never made me feel that way. You make me feel like I'm the most beautiful woman on the planet. You are always so sweet and tender with me." Rayna put both her hands on his cheeks.

"Baby, it is my job to make you feel beautiful even when you don't feel that way on your own. I will always love and protect you no matter what. I will always love and protect the family that we've built together. Your days of worryin' 'bout me are over. I'm gonna be the man that you deserve from now on." Deacon swore to her.

"I know that, babe. I love you for everythin' that you've always been to me." Rayna kissed him tenderly.

"And I love you the same way." Deacon rubbed his nose against hers.

* * *

"Hey, Tandy, are the girls ready to go?" Teddy stood on the front stoop of Rayna and Deacon's house.

"I can promise you that they are getting that way. They are working on it. They are their mother's daughters. They are gonna be late for their own damn funerals." Tandy waved him inside.

"That sounds about right to me. Rayna I never on time for anything." Teddy stepped inside the house.

"Girls! Teddy's here get a move on!" Tandy shouted up the stairs.

Maddie and Daphne bounded down the stairs a moment later. Daphne was carrying a bag with her, but Maddie wasn't.

"Hey, Dad!" Daphne exclaimed happily.

"Hey you," Teddy wrapped his arms around her. "Maddie, where's your bag?"

"I decided that I'm not gonna go this week. I'm gonna count this as dad's time and stay with Aunt Tandy." Maddie replied.

"Maddie, this is my week. Go upstairs and get your bag. Please don't be difficult right now. I have more than enough on my plate." Teddy groaned.

"I'm not going it's up to me to choose and I don't want to go this week." Maddie argued.

"Get up those steps and get your bag right now." Teddy's voice was stern.

"I'm not going. Not for your wife to try to run us off and keep us from talking to you. No thank you." Maddie scoffed.

"Maddie, please come with me." Daphne begged her sister.

Maddie rolled her eyes and groaned. "Fine, for you I'll go. Only because you asked and not because he ordered me to he's not even my real dad anyway." She stomped upstairs and grabbed her bag.

"Don't take it personally, Teddy. Teenage hormones anyone over the age of twenty-five is her worst enemy dead set on ruining her life." Tandy tried to make him feel better.

"She went right for the you're not my real dad card. She knows how to make it hurt." Teddy stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"She's just like Rayna that. Only she used mom as a button pusher with daddy. It's just a phase it'll pass." Tandy promised him.

"When she's thirty?" Daphne asked innocently.

"That's a good question. Your mother has yet to grow out of that phase when it comes to your pawpaw." Tandy chuckled.

"Alright, I'm ready to go." Maddie stomped back down the stairs.

"Bye, girls, have a good week." Tandy waved to them.

"I have one stop to make before we go home." Teddy told them once they got them into the car.

Maddie had her headphones in and her head turned towards the window.

"Ok, dad." Daphne agreed.

"Will you two be ok by yourselves if I run into the pharmacy real quick?" Teddy asked him as he pulled into the pharmacy's parking lot.

"We will be fine, dad." Daphne assured him since Maddie still wasn't engaging with him.

"I will be fast." Teddy got out of the car.

"Thank God, I thought he would never go." Maddie groaned loudly.

"Maddie, what is your problem? Why are you being such a jerk to dad?" Daphne questioned her.

"Daphne, I'm mad at him right now and I have every right to be mad. It's not even that so much as it is Peggy right now. I know things about her. And she just won't let us be alone around him." Maddie tried to explain herself as best as she could.

"Maddie, I know I feel the same way about her. You just don't have to be so mean about it. He does love you and mom said that he was her hero when she needed one. I don't want you to stop coming with me. I don't wanna be the odd one out. Deacon is your dad and he's the baby's dad I'm the only one that's different, but if you keep coming with me then I'm not." Daphne replied meekly.

Maddie reached out and gripped her baby sister's hand tightly. "No matter what you and I are always gonna be sisters. Nothing or no one will ever be able to change that. We have each other's backs and when the baby gets here we will have his back too. We can count on us."

Daphne nodded her head. "Ok, Maddie."

Teddy got back in the car and agitatedly slammed the door.

"Dad, is everything ok?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, it's great. We just need to get home that's all." Teddy did his best not to appear flustered for their sakes.

"Alright, if you say so." Maddie snorted.

Teddy drove the rest of the way home in silence. "Peggy, the girls are here. I was thinking that we could start on dinner soon if you haven't already." He called out when he walked into the house.

"I'm in the living room." Peggy called out. She was on the couch with a throw over her legs and one over her shoulders.

"If you want to go up to your rooms and wait for dinner you just have to be quiet. Peggy isn't really feeling well." Teddy told them.

"She hasn't been for a while." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"I know; things are just hard right now." Teddy replied.

"Dad, I don't think she likes us." Daphne whispered to him.

"That's not true. There are just some things going on. It's hard and I understand that. Just go on up to your rooms." Teddy gave them both a quick hug.

"Come on, Daph." Maddie held her hand out to her sister.

"I'm coming." Daphne took her hand.

Teddy walked into the living room. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He kissed her cheek.

"A little better. Where are the girls?" Peggy offered him a weak smile.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear that. They went up to their rooms. Do you feel up to having a little talk?" Teddy sat down next to her and put his hand on her knee.

"Sure I can do that." Peggy nodded her head.

"The girls think that you don't like them. Truthfully I don't blame them for feeling that way. You haven't been the most welcoming to them. Maddie doesn't even want to come here anymore. I'm having a hard enough time with her right now without you adding this on top of it." Teddy broached the subject.

"I'm sorry that I've been so distant since the miscarriage. I just have all these feelings that I don't know how to express. I'll try better from now on." Peggy replied.

Teddy closed his eyes before he asked what he had to ask her. "Be honest with me how long ago did you have the miscarriage? I went to the pharmacy today and the pharmacist told me he wasn't sure why the doctor sent that prescription out for you that your other OBGYN had written one for you months ago. Tell me the truth, Peggy."

"I lost the baby months ago. I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want you to be disappointed and I was afraid that you wouldn't want to marry me anymore." Peggy admitted.

Teddy's eyes teared up and he took his off her knee. "I would have married you anyway. You didn't have to lie to me. I threw away my marriage for you. I put my girls through hell for you. I turned Maddie's world upside down because of you. If we hadn't started messing around she would have never thought to go snooping. She wouldn't know that Deacon is her father and I wouldn't be on the verge of losing her."

"Teddy, I'm sorry. I didn't know what else I was supposed to do. I was scared and confused and so in love with you." Peggy cried.

"All you had to do was tell me the truth. I love you too and I would have married you whether you were pregnant or not." Teddy raised his voice.

"Don't yell at me. I told you that I did the best that I could." Peggy yelled back at him.

"Keep your voice down my girls are upstairs." Teddy jumped to his feet.

"Teddy, we are married they are my girls too now." Peggy pointed out to him.

"You sure as hell haven't acted like it. Get out. I love you, but I need you to get out now." Teddy pointed towards the door.

"No, I'm not leaving you can't make me go." Peggy argued with him.

"You need to go right now. I can't deal with this." Teddy reiterated.

Daphne stood in the doorway of her sister's room with a fearful look on her face.

"Come on, Daph." Maddie held her arms open to her.

"I wanna go home, Maddie." Daphne hugged her sister tightly.

"I'm here you've got me. I'll call mom and have her talk to him. It's all gonna be ok I promise." Maddie swore to her.

"Why does it have to be like this? I don't understand." Daphne's eyes darted around.

"I don't know. I guess being an adult is complicated and they don't always get it right. At least that's what dad told me when I asked him. He said that adults can be stupid and selfish even when kids are involved. He said that they always try their best they just don't get it right all the time." Maddie told her.

"Deacon is pretty smart isn't he?" Daphne smiled a little bit.

"He is. How did you know I meant him?" Maddie cuddled her little sister.

"He usually is who you mean when you say dad now, but I get it I really do. He's your real dad. Let's just call mom now I want to go home." Daphne mumbled.

"Ok let's call her." Maddie pulled out her phone and dialed Rayna's number.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry for the long wait. I haven't given up on this story though and I won't I write when my muse strikes me. Until next time please review.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 18

"Dad, thank God you're here." Maddie ran out of Teddy's house and into Deacon's arms.

"Deacon!" Daphne ran to him as well.

"Come here, my girls." Deacon held them close and kissed both of their heads. "I've got you. You're ok. Ya'll come get in the truck with me while your momma talks to him." He herded them into his truck.

"Teddy, what the hell is going on? Why are the girls callin' me and tellin' me that they wanna come home?" Rayna demanded with her hands on her hips.

"You better take them for now. I've got a mess on my hands here and I don't know when it'll be straightened up." Teddy drank from the glass of scotch he had in his hand.

"What kind of a mess? These are my girls I deserve to know what you've exposed them to." Rayna stared him down.

"Peggy miscarried the baby before she told me she was pregnant. Then she faked a miscarriage to cover up the fact that she lied to me." Teddy took another drink.

"I'm so sorry, Teddy. You didn't deserve that. The way things ended aside you were a good husband and father. Take your time and get yourself together the girls will be waitin' when you're ready. Take it easy on the scotch. It makes it easier to get yourself together. I should go." Rayna turned to go.

"You know the girls never took to Peggy the way they have with Deacon? Maybe that should have told me something." Teddy leaned against the porch railing.

"He's always been there. More than that he spends time with the girls and not just me. He could care less that I'm around sometimes once him and those and two girls get together. I'm kinda on my honeymoon so I gotta go. Just get it together." Rayna made her way over to the truck and got in.

"Ya'll alright with headin' back to the cabin tonight?" Deacon turned around in the back seat to look at the girls.

"Babe, maybe we should just head home." Rayna put her hand on Deacon's knee and looked at him apologetically.

"I'll tell ya'll what. Give me two hours of your time. If after those two hours ya'll three girls wanna go home I'll take ya home. I'm just askin' for two hours to put a smile on those faces." Deacon replied.

"Alright, we can give you two hours." Rayna agreed.

Deacon drove back in the direction of the cabin. He pulled off at a roadside diner.

"Babe, you remembered." Rayna's face lit up with a smile.

"I never forgot." Deacon leaned over and kissed her softly.

"Come on, girls, get out and come inside." Rayna ushered the girls out of the truck.

Deacon held the door to the diner open for them. "After you, ladies."

"Let's sit over here." Rayna picked a booth out and sat down with the girls.

Deacon slid into the booth next to her. "Ya'll, ready for the best junk food in the whole state?"

"Yeah," Maddie shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess so." Daphne looked downcast.

Rayna reached across the table and took each of her daughter's hands. "You two ok? I know you guys heard some stuff tonight that you shouldn't have. Adults are complicated and messy."

"I'm ok, mom." Daphne assured her.

"I'm ok too." Maddie nodded her head.

"I know just the thing to turn those frowns upside down." Deacon raised his hand and snapped his fingers. "Hey, Rocky! Give me four Deacon specials."

"Claybourne, you don't have to shout I can hear you just fine. Comin' right up." Rocky yelled back from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry that we had to call you guys." Maddie apologized.

"We're sorry that we ruined your honeymoon." Daphne chimed in.

"Don't be ridiculous we only care that the two of you are ok." Rayna squeezed their hands.

"Are ya'll crazy? You ain't ruinin' our honeymoon you're makin' it better. I think you two were just what was missin'." Deacon assured them.

"He's right, left alone all we do is bicker with each other." Rayna smiled softly.

A gray-haired man with a beard walked over to the table carrying a tray of milkshakes. "Deacon, I know you don't think these two little girls are gonna be able to handle these shakes." Rocky sat the shakes down on the table.

"You'd be surprised what these girls can handle, Rocky." Deacon shook hands with him.

"In that case, I'll ya'll a few minutes to look over the menu. Holler when you're ready to order. Just don't yell as loud as you did before." Rocky patted Deacon's shoulder and headed back to the kitchen.

"Ya'll try those shakes. I've been all over this country and I ain't found one better." Deacon encouraged them.

"Deacon, is this salted caramel?" Rayna asked after she took a sip.

"It is. I may have picked up a trick or two from this redhead that I used to date." Deacon grinned.

"You best be talkin' about me." Rayna smiled back at him.

"Of course, I am. Who else was I with damn near every day who would have influenced my tastes?" Deacon arched his eyebrow.

"I have to say that I was a good influence on you." Rayna elbowed him in the ribs playfully.

Deacon reached over and put his hand on her belly. "Bubba, you better tell your momma to settle down. She's bein' mean to your daddy."

"I told you that he's on my side." Rayna teased him.

"I still object to that." Deacon laughed. "Ya'll look at those menus and see if you can't find somethin' that you like." He addressed the girls.

Rayna squeezed his knee affectionately and smiled at him.

Deacon laid in bed next to Rayna watching her sleep. He scooted down in bed so that he was at eye level with her belly. He kissed it tenderly. "Mornin', Bubba. Did you sleep good? Daddy loves you so much." He rubbed her belly lovingly.

* * *

Rayna woke up with a smile on her face. She reached down and threaded her fingers through Deacon's hair. "What are you doin' down there, babe?"

"I'm talkin' to my son." Deacon smiled up at her.

"Come up here so your son's mother can kiss her husband good mornin'." Rayna tugged on his hair gently.

Deacon crawled up the bed and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Good mornin', wife."

"Good mornin', husband." Rayna wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearin' the way that sounds." Deacon smiled against her lips.

"I won't ever get tired of sayin' it. Not after how long I waited for you." Rayna kissed him over and over.

"You tryin' to start somethin'?" Deacon deepened the kiss.

Rayna moaned and arched up against him in reply.

Deacon fit himself between her legs and rubbed his crotch against hers.

"Mmm, babe, we better stop now." Rayna groaned.

"Right, the girls." Deacon sighed and rested his forehead against hers.

"Yeah, I think we better not scar them for life. I'm sorry, babe." Rayna chuckled at the pout on his face.

"We will wait until later when they are asleep." Deacon rolled over and laid flat on his back.

"I know that this isn't much of a honeymoon, baby." Rayna rolled over and put her head on his chest.

"Don't you even think anythin' of it. Our girls needed us. That trumps everythin' even my need for super hot honeymoon sex with my gorgeous new wife." Deacon kissed the top of her head.

"You are so understandin' and I love you for it. Don't think you're the only one disappointed about the sex." Rayna ran her hand up and down his side. "So, what are the plans for today?"

"I thought that I'd take the girls fishin' and teach 'em how to build a fire. That's after I get up and make everyone breakfast." Deacon sighed in contentment.

"You are the best daddy that those girls could ask for. And our little boy is gonna be so lucky to have you there to teach him how to be an outdoorsman. Cause honey I hate to break it to ya your girls aren't gonna like fishin'." Rayna laughed.

"They take after their momma that way. You don't fish you lay out on the dock and tan. 'Cept you don't tan you freckle." Deacon tickled her side.

"Deacon, stop it right now. I already have a baby on my bladder. I will pee this bed." Rayna squealed with laughter.

A loud knock sounded at the bedroom door.

"You just got lucky. Saved by the knock." Deacon teased her. "Come in, it's unlocked."

Daphne opened the door and walked in meekly.

"Good mornin', sweet girl." Rayna smiled at her brightly.

"Morning, mom." Daphne yawned.

"How'd ya sleep, Squirt?" Deacon asked.

"I slept alright. I've been up for a little while. I wasn't sure what else to do." Daphne replied.

Deacon patted the bed in between him and Rayna. "Come lay down for a minute."

Daphne crawled into bed between them.

Deacon put his arm around the little girl and kissed her head. "You are welcome to do whatever the hell you want here. This is your home too. I want you to feel at home. I bought this place for your momma when she was nominated for her first CMA award. That kinda makes it more yours than mine in a way."

"There is all kinda stuff for you to do up here and Deacon is gonna show you later. You're lucky he finally put a tv in up here. We used to have to just sit here and talk to each other. He's not much of a conversationalist." Rayna loved on her daughter.

"He's weird about technology isn't he?" Daphne giggled.

"If it's more complicated than an electric guitar he doesn't wanna deal with it." Rayna laughed with her.

"Where's your sister? Is she up yet?" Deacon asked. "And ya'll can just leave me be. I'm a simple man you know this."

"She borrowed one of your guitars and is out on the porch playing." Daphne answered.

"Someone is related to her daddy. Deacon does the same thing when there is something on his mind." Rayna informed her.

"Daph, why don't you, me, and baby boy, go make pancakes while Deacon goes to talk to Maddie?" Rayna suggested.

"Ok, mom." Daphne agreed.

* * *

Maddie sat on the porch looking out at the river with a guitar across her lap.

Deacon walked out with another guitar and sat in the chair next to hers. "Mornin', Princess."

"Morning, dad." Maddie looked over at him.

"I see that you helped yourself to a guitar and made yourself right at home." Deacon smiled softly.

"I did. I hope that's ok. It's really beautiful here I can see why you like it so much." Maddie replied.

"I'll tell you like I told your sister this is your home too I want you to feel welcome here." Deacon strummed his guitar.

"I do. I feel free here, dad. I feel at peace." Maddie strummed her guitar as well.

"When I came out here you were thinkin' 'bout somethin' weren't ya?" Deacon made conversation with her.

"I was. How did you know?" Maddie wore a look of shock on her face.

"You're a lot more like me than you realize. I come out here to think when I have things on my mind too." Deacon told her.

"It's just dad and Peggy that whole mess. He broke our family up over that. For what? It was over nothing. She lied to him. He blew our lives apart over a lie." Maddie rambled.

"I told ya, kid. Adults are complicated. We can be selfish and stupid and only think of ourselves. That's alright when we ain't got no one else to look out for. But, when there are kids in the picture they gotta be put first. We don't always get that part right. We do try our best though." Deacon told her.

"I know, but it's just that he betrayed us and his vows to mom. I guess I don't understand how Peggy was worth all of that. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though he did lie about being my dad." Maddie sighed.

"I think that's what you're really mad at him about. I think that you're still mad at your momma too. I won't say that that's an easy thing to get over. I won't even lie and tell you that I'm over it yet. I've forgiven your momma, but it does still hurt. It's gonna hurt for a long time. That's ok for you to feel that way. There's no timeline on grief and that's exactly what this is. You lost somethin' that you always thought to be true." Deacon reached over and put his hand on her knee.

"Dad, how do you know just what to say to make me feel better?" Maddie smiled a little bit.

"I'm your daddy that's my job." Deacon smiled back at her.

"You're a really good dad. If I haven't told you before I'm telling you now." Maddie replied.

"Thanks, kiddo, that means a lot to me." Deacon had to swallow around the lump in his throat to speak.

* * *

Rayna walked down to the dock with a smile on her face. She watched Deacon interact with the girls.

Deacon baited both Maddie and Daphne's hooks and threw their lines out into the water. "Alright, let's see if we can't actually catch a fish this time instead of just feedin' 'em." He laughed.

"How can you say anything to us? You were just over there sleeping." Daphne teased him.

"I was not sleepin' I was just restin' my eyes." Deacon defended himself.

"Dad, you were snoring." Maddie laughed.

"I was not snoring. My nose is stuffed up." Deacon argued.

"No wonder ya'll ain't catchin' any fish you're down here makin' way too much noise." Rayna made her presence known.

Deacon pulled up a stringer a fish that was tied to the dock. "We are catchin' fish. Or rather I'm catchin' fish. These two are just feedin' 'em. I've got a good start on dinner. My two little buddies here are gonna have to clean 'em."

"You're the husband and daddy it's your job to clean those fish." Rayna winked at him.

"Listen to that the great Rayna Jaymes outspoken feminist sayin' it's a man's job to do somethin'." Deacon sparred with her verbally.

"If a woman wants to clean a fish more power to her, I'm just not gonna do it." Rayna retorted.

"Nice save, mom." Maddie high fived her.

"You want me to fix your pole up, babe?" Deacon asked her even though he knew the answer.

"You can fix a pole for me, but I'm not baitin' my own hook or takin' any fish off the line." Rayna retorted.

"I'll fix your pole for ya. You can have my chair. I'll sit on the dock." Deacon got up and gave her his chair. He sat on the dock and fixed her pole and then he threw the line out into the water.

"Thanks, babe. I appreciate you." Rayna smiled at him.

"You ain't gotta thank me that's my job accordin' to you." Deacon smiled back at her.

"Deacon, it feels like there is something tugging on the end of my pole." Daphne told him excitedly.

"Reel it in, Squirt. I bet you got a fish on the other end. Go on, keep the tip up!" Deacon encouraged her. He leaned over the edge of the dock so he could grab the line when it got close.

"I'm reeling. It feels so heavy." Daphne replied.

Deacon grabbed her line and pulled it in. "That's because you've got a real big catfish on the line." He held up the catfish that she had just reeled in. "Look at that monster."

"Wow, that's almost as big as the one that he has mounted over the mantle. Daph, go stand beside Deacon I wanna get your picture." Rayna encouraged her daughter.

Deacon put his arm around Daphne's shoulders and held the fish up with a smile.

Daphne hugged him around the waist and smiled widely.

"Squirt, do you wanna hold the fish?" Deacon asked her.

"No way I don't want to hold that slimy thing." Daphne wrinkled up her nose.

"Dad, that is so gross." Maddie made a sound of disgust.

"Ok, I'll put it on the stringer myself then." Deacon shook his head and laughed.

"I told you that you were gonna play hell gettin' either one of those girls to touch a fish." Rayna reminded him.

Deacon stole a kiss from her. "The only thing that matters to me is I'm out here with my three girls."

"You are the sweetest thing ever." Rayna mumbled against his lips.

"Ya'll make it easy to be sweet to ya." Deacon rubbed his nose against hers.

"You are both so gross and embarrassing." Maddie rolled her eyes.

* * *

Deacon was around the fire pit with Maddie and Daphne teaching them how to properly build a fire.

"It gets chilly out here at night. Ya'll come get these sweatshirts from me." Rayna called them over to the porch.

"Ya'll girls go do what your momma said." Deacon told them.

The girls went over and each of them took a hooded sweatshirt from their mother and put them on.

"Those are just a little bit big on ya, but it'll keep you from getting cold. It's a good thing that Deacon keeps all kinda jackets up here." Rayna nodded her head satisfied.

"I'm always prepared." Deacon chimed in.

"Hey, babe, why don't you and Daph go inside and get the stuff to put on the grill. I'll help Maddie tend to the fire." Rayna gave Deacon a look. He'd told her about the conversation that he'd had with Maddie and now she wanted a chance to talk to her.

"Yeah, we will get right on that." Deacon put his arm around Daphne's shoulders and led her into the house.

"Maddie, you're gonna wanna put some of that little stuff into the flame to get the fire goin'." Rayna instructed her daughter.

Maddie did as she was told. "I got it, mom."

"So, daddy told me that there's a chance you're still mad at me." Rayna just bit the bullet and dove right into the conversation.

"I don't know, I mean I guess so. It just feels like dad blew our family apart and like you took the person I thought I was away from me." Maddie admitted.

"Maddie, baby girl, I know that I took a lot away from you, but it wasn't easy on me either. I had to keep that secret inside of me for so long. I couldn't tell your dad and every time I looked at you I saw him. Then every time I saw you two together it broke my heart a little bit more. There were so many times that I would go to tell him and then the words would get stuck in my throat. I was weak and afraid. I'm sorry I know that I hurt you badly." Rayna apologized to her.

"I know that you're sorry, mom, but it's just a lot to take in at one time. I heard dad on the phone with Peggy and then I found the DNA test in your closet. I guess things have moved so quickly since then that I haven't had time to process it. I guess whatever we had was just an illusion for you and dad, but it was real for me and Daph. We lost something. We lost our whole world." Maddie just let loose with everything that she'd been holding back.

"Oh, Maddie, I am so sorry. Teddy and I destroyed your home, your family, and your sense of self. I was always gonna tell you one day. I wish you would have heard that for me. That's what I regret most that I wasn't the one to tell you or your dad. I need you to know that I did love Teddy in my own way. I just wasn't in love with him. I tried to tell myself that I was for years. I shouldn't have let it get as far as it did. I should have done the right thing a long time ago. This whole mess is my fault. I love you so much and I never wanted to hurt you." Rayna held her arms open to her.

"It's ok, mom, it really is. I just need to adjust to my new normal." Maddie hugged her tight.

"It's all gonna be ok, you take as much time as you need and you feel whatever you need to. I'll always be here for you." Rayna squeezed her tight.

Maddie looked down when she felt a thump against her abdomen. "Was that the baby?"

"That was him. He was sayin' 'Hi, Big Sis.' I don't think he likes bein' crowded." Rayna laughed.

"He's got dad's temper doesn't he?" Maddie chuckled.

"That's one thing that I already know for sure." Rayna agreed with her.

"We've got burgers and hotdogs ready for the grill." Deacon announced as he and Daphne walked back outside.

"You two have perfect timing. I think Baby Boy Claybourne is starving and voicing his displeasure by kicking me as hard as he can." Rayna rubbed her belly.

Deacon put everything on the grill and walked over and put his hand on Rayna's belly. "Bubba, be nice to momma. You're puttin' her through enough."

Rayna laughed when Deacon was rewarded with a kick to the hand. "I think he listens about as well as you do already."

"He's just excited to hear his daddy's voice that's all." Deacon defended his unborn son.

"Listen to that you men are already stickin' together." Rayna pulled him to her and kissed him.

"We are outnumbered. We have to stick together. You women will make us crazy otherwise." Deacon rubbed her back.

"Having a good honeymoon so far?" Rayna asked him.

"Only the best honeymoon ever. I don't think it would be quite the same without those two monkeys." Deacon teasingly let his lips hover mere inches away from hers.

"I guess they are alright. We can keep 'em around for awhile yet." Rayna laughed against his lips.

"Do you two really have to do that?" Daphne groaned.

"They really have no clue how embarrassing they are." Maddie crossed her arms over her chest.

"Maybe we can sell that oldest one to the highest bidder if she gets to be too much trouble though." Deacon teased.

"I don't think we'll get much for her, but we can give it a try." Rayna played along with her.

"I can't wait until I turn eighteen and don't have to listen to this." Maddie grumbled.

"Guess what? We can't wait either. You teenagers are a pain in the ass." Deacon shot back.

"Alright, that's enough outta both of you. Go to your separate corners. Deacon, you have to go make dinner." Rayna swatted his ass and sent him in the direction of the grill.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll get things moving along and the baby will be here soon. Until next time please review.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 19

Deacon walked into the cabin carrying a load of firewood. He dropped it in front of the fireplace and began to stack it up.

"Hey, Deacon?" Daphne called out to him.

"Yeah, Squirt?" He didn't bother to turn his head to look at her.

"We were wondering if you have any more water based paint around here." Daphne told him.

"Sweetheart, what are ya'll doin'?" Deacon's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"Mom is sitting up on the kitchen counter and she's letting me and Maddie paint her belly." Daphne explained.

"Ya'll are already pickin' on your little brother." Deacon laughed.

"We aren't picking on him. We are putting makeup on him." Maddie defended them.

"Rayna, what are ya'll doin' to my son?" Deacon walked into the kitchen.

"Your daughters are painting my belly to look like a baseball." Rayna explained to him.

"Oh really? That's what ya'll are doin'?" Deacon leaned up against the counter.

"Yeah, this is what happens when we keep them out in the boondocks for a week with no internet." Rayna laughed.

"I think it's been good for 'em. Though I'm sure once we get 'em home they are gonna go right for their computers." Deacon chuckled.

"I miss the internet I don't know how he stays up here all the time with only a tv." Maddie grumbled.

"I do a lotta writin' and a lotta fishin' when I come up here by myself." Deacon informed her.

"Deacon, what do you think of mom's belly?" Daphne asked him.

"I think your baby brother makes one fine lookin' baseball. Ya'll girls did a dang good job." Deacon stole a kiss from Rayna.

"Say somethin' else, daddy, your boy heard you talkin' and he started kickin'." Rayna took his hand and put it on her belly.

"Hey, in there, Bubba. How you doin'? You havin' a good honeymoon with momma, and daddy, and your sissies?" Deacon kissed her belly. He smiled when he was rewarded with a kick to the chin.

"Deacon, the four of us did some talkin'. We decided that instead of cookin' tonight that we could head to the diner for the last night of our honeymoon and that way we don't have a mess to clean up before we leave." Rayna answered for the baby.

"The four of ya, huh?" Deacon smiled up at her.

"Yeah, Bubba gets a vote too." Daphne pointed out to him like he should have thought of that.

"Let me make it unanimous then. We are gonna go to the diner. This guy is gettin' the biggest, greasiest cheeseburger on the menu." Deacon clapped his hands together.

"Oh no, here comes the triple cheeseburger story." Rayna rolled her eyes at him playfully.

"Girls, I once wrote a song while playin' guitar and eatin' a triple cheeseburger. It's one of the greatest accomplishments of my life." Deacon bragged.

"That should tell you that he doesn't have many when that makes the top ten list." Rayna teased him.

"Oh, hush it, you." Deacon kissed her again.

"Girls, go get ready for dinner." Rayna laughed and pulled away from him.

* * *

The weeks leading up to the baby's birth passed with the same familiar ease that had been established up at the cabin. Teddy had been licking his wounds and he hadn't seen much of the girls since the night that they left his house.

Rayna was miserably pregnant and couldn't get comfortable no matter what she did.

"How ya doin', baby?" Deacon brought her a glass of lemonade from the kitchen and kissed her head.

"I want this boy out of me now. I haven't slept comfortably since I don't know when, my back hurts, I can't see my feet, and I pee thirty-two times in an hour." Rayna whined.

Deacon sat down beside her and pulled her feet into his lap. "I can't do anythin' 'bout any of your other complaints, but I can rub your feet for ya." He took one of her feet in his hands and began to knead the sole with his thumbs.

Rayna let out a content moan. "That is amazin', baby. I don't know what I would do without you."

"I think you'd find a way to survive, but you're not gonna have to figure it out." Deacon leaned over and kissed her. He laughed when he got a foot in the abdomen for his troubles. "He's got quite the little temper on him."

"You're crowdin' him, daddy, he doesn't like that." Rayna laughed against his lips.

"Well, he's just gonna have to get used to it. I'm gonna be crowdin' him for the next eighteen years. He's gonna be so sick of me that he will be glad to go to college." Deacon joked.

"Or out on the road. This is your son we're talkin' 'bout. While college would be nice, I don't know that it'll happen. I'm not the one who pushes the girls 'bout the college thing. That's Teddy. I just backed his play on that one. You and I didn't go to college and we turned out fine. Sure, I want better for 'em, but I don't wanna force 'em to do somethin' they don't wanna do." Rayna replied seriously.

"I doubt there are many college graduates who have what you have." Deacon gestured around the house.

"I worked hard for this as you well know. Success like I've found is no guarantee and I want them to have a fall back plan just in case." Rayna told him.

"I understand that completely. I put my niece through college only to have her head down the same damn road her momma and I went down." Deacon retorted.

"I think that all three of our kids are gonna be ok no matter what." Rayna mused.

"I know it." Deacon gave her a reassuring grin.

"So, how would you feel about goin' to the hospital?" Rayna asked him.

"Ray, what are you talkin' 'bout?" Deacon looked confused.

"I didn't wanna say anythin' to you until I was sure, but I think I'm pretty positive I'm in labor." Rayna told him.

Deacon's forehead wrinkled up in confusion. Realization slowly dawned on him. "Oh, God, I'll go get the bag. I'll have Tandy get the girls from school don't worry 'bout anythin' I'm gonna take care of it." He jumped up.

"Easy, babe, this takes a while. You don't have to rush. Just calm down." Rayna laughed at him.

"You may be an old pro at this, but it's my first rodeo. I'm gonna freak out a little bit." Deacon reasoned with her.

"I know, babe, and it's adorable. Deep breath. Go get the bag. I'll start makin' my way out to the truck." Rayna gave him a look that was meant to calm him.

"Alright, just be careful." Deacon went upstairs to grab her hospital bag.

* * *

Once he got the bag and made it down to the truck it only took Deacon fifteen minutes to get to the hospital.

"Well, Rayna, are you ready to have this baby?" Dr. Brown asked when she walked in the room.

"I'm so ready." Rayna gave her a thumbs up.

"I think unlike the other two this one is gonna be a quick one." Dr. Brown replied.

"You can tell all that by one exam?" Deacon asked worriedly.

"I'm just that good. She's had two babies before this. She's an old pro, daddy. Relax and take a load off." Dr. Brown assured him.

"When can I get some drugs?" Rayna asked.

"Whenever you want them." Dr. Brown told her.

"I will take those drugs as soon as you can give them to me." Rayna replied.

"I'll have an intern come in and give you the epidural." Dr. Brown chuckled.

"That would be great for both of us." Deacon retorted.

"I've got you covered, daddy." Dr. Brown gripped his shoulder and laughed.

"Thank God someone does." Deacon grumbled.

"Hang in there. She doesn't really mean anything that she says." Dr. Brown assured him.

"I'm hopin' not. She's said a lotta things that make me question this marriage." Deacon frowned.

"That's the pain talking. We will fix that." Dr. Brown promised.

"Hey, I'm sorry it took so long I'm here." Tandy rushed into the room twenty minutes later.

"Don't apologize come on in." Deacon waved her into the room. He and Rayna had agreed that they couldn't bring this baby into the world without her sister being there.

"Tandy, I'm so glad you're here. Where are my girls?" Rayna smiled at her.

Tandy took her hand and squeezed it. "They are just fine. They are in the waiting room with daddy."

"Daddy's here?" Rayna questioned.

"Of course, daddy's here. There is nowhere else in world he would be. His first male heir is coming into the world. I'm pretty sure he already has his office space over at Wyatt Industries picked out. He's just waiting for his name so he can make his name plate." Tandy kissed her forehead.

"That sounds like daddy." Rayna laughed.

"Don't worry, babe, our boy is gonna be like us. He ain't gonna want no part of the establishment." Deacon reassured her.

"If he's anything like you he's gonna flip the establishment the bird with a big grin on his face. You'll be smilin' sayin' that's my boy and I'll be the one who has to get on to him." Rayna squeezed his hand.

"Oh please, if he's anything like Deacon he'll flip the establishment the bird while Deacon grins and you kiss him on the head and tell him what a good boy he is. I'll be the one who has to get on to him." Tandy corrected her.

"That sounds about right." Deacon nodded his head with a smile on his face. "You shoulda seen her before she got the drugs." He directed that comment at Tandy.

"I've been in the room with her before she got the drugs before. Teddy didn't handle her anywhere near as well as you do." Tandy replied.

"I'm used to this side of her. Everyone else expects to see the side of her she shows to the public. They get surprised when she's not this charmin' little southern belle she acts like she is." Deacon threw his head back and laughed.

"I am havin' your son. Now is not the time to make fun of me." Rayna glared at him.

"I'm not makin' fun of ya. I'm just sayin'. You're the real you with me." Deacon corrected her.

"You're the only person who can take me just as I am." Rayna smiled softly at him.

"You too are sick when it comes to each other." Tandy rolled her eyes at him.

Dr. Brown returned later. "Alright, who is ready to have a baby?"

"I'm more than ready to meet my boy." Deacon grinned goofily.

"I'm ready to have this boy outta me." Rayna gripped his hand tightly.

"Dad, go stand up by her head and help her relax." Dr. Brown instructed him.

"Ok, baby, you've got this. You can do anythin' you put your mind to. You're the girl who used to climb outta a two-story window to ride shotgun with me." Deacon kissed her forehead and looked her in the eyes.

"I was also sixteen then." Rayna reminded him.

"That girl is still in there somewhere. You just grab on to that piece of you and you fight." Deacon squeezed her hand.

Rayna nodded her head and squeezed his hand as hard as she could.

"You can do this, Babe. You've done it twice before." Tandy patted her hand.

"I was younger then." Rayna again pointed out.

"Baby, if anyone can do this it's you. You've always been able to do whatever you set your mind to." Deacon gave her a pep talk.

"I love you." Rayna's eyes teared up.

"I love you too, now let's meet our little boy." Deacon smiled encouragingly.

"Rayna, any time you're ready you can start to push." Dr. Brown told her.

"Come on, Babe, let's do this." Tandy pushed her hair back from her face.

Rayna gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could with a loud groan.

"That's it, Ray, you let it out. You get loud." Deacon egged her on.

"Deacon, the worst thing I ever did was have sex with you!" Rayna yelled at him.

"I'm not sure that's what he meant, but do what you have to." Tandy praised her.

"I have a head. Give me another big push like that to get past his shoulders." Dr. Brown spoke up.

Rayna pushed again harder than she had the last time. She was giving this every bit that she had.

"Rayna, rest a minute. I know this is hard, but you're almost there." Dr. Brown encouraged her.

"Baby, you're doin' so good. Just relax a minute. You're so brave. You're doin' so much better than I could at this." Deacon spoke to her gently.

"He's right all men are babies. If this were on him it would be a C-Section." Tandy tried to keep her spirits up.

"Some men, maybe, but not him. He's the strongest man I know. He is a survivor." Rayna couldn't just let that statement pass without defending her husband.

"Rayna? You ready? We're in the home stretch here. Give me three more pushes and you're done. Your little boy will be in your arms." Dr. Brown smiled at her.

"Ray, give it hell. I'll be right here. I'm sorry that I can't do more right now, but I'm doin' all I can. You take your strength from me." Deacon kissed her lips gently.

"Let's do this, baby." Rayna agreed with him. She bared her teeth and pushed with everything that she had in her.

"Two more," Dr. Brown coached.

"Deacon, I love you, but you're never touchin' me again." Rayna hissed. She pushed again. She grabbed Deacon and Tandy's hands so hard that her knuckles turned white.

"Give me one more just like that." Dr. Brown told her.

Rayna pushed one more time like her life depended on it.

A loud ringing cry filled the air.

"You wanna cut the cord, dad?" Dr. Brown asked Deacon.

"Yeah, I'd love that." Deacon took the scissors from her and cut his son's cord.

A nurse took him off to clean him up. She brought him back after a minute and laid him on Rayna's chest.

"Hi, handsome, you look just like your daddy." Rayna laughed through the tears in her eyes.

"Rayna, he's so beautiful." Tandy ran her hand over her nephew's tiny back.

"Ray, I thought I could never love someone as much as I love you, but in this minute I don't know how I can ever love anythin' more than him." Deacon let a tear roll down his cheek.

The baby squirmed around on his mother's chest.

"Deacon, pick your son up. He hears his daddy's voice and he wants you." Rayna told him weakly. She was so exhausted.

"I'm not sure I should. I afraid that I might break him. He looks pretty damn content with you." Deacon stammered.

"Deacon, hold your son." Tandy snorted.

Deacon gingerly picked the baby up and held him to his chest. "Hey, little man, I'm your daddy. I'm so sorry 'bout that, but I'm what you've got. I promise that I'm always gonna do my best by you like my old man didn't do for me." Deacon kissed all over his face. He was totally in awe of his new son.

"That is the most precious sight that I have ever seen." Rayna let her tears flow freely.

"Even I have to admit that he looks damn good holding that baby." Tandy chimed in.

"He really does, doesn't he?" Rayna smiled.

"Deacon, don't let this go to your head, but you did good." Tandy patted his back and kissed his cheek.

"He's really somethin' special, ain't he?" Deacon didn't know what else to say.

"He is just so damn handsome." Tandy replied.

"He is, the poor thing looks so much like me and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Deacon didn't take his eyes off his son.

"I'm gonna go get the girls and I will bring them in when you guys are ready." Tandy could tell that they needed a minute alone.

"That would be great." Rayna agreed with her.

"You are very loved and wanted, Bubba. That's all your daddy can promise you. I can't promise that I will always get it right, but I do promise you to always love ya no matter what." Deacon kissed him again.

"Deacon, he still needs a name." Rayna spoke up.

"What did you wanna name him?" Deacon made eye contact with her for a moment before looking back at their son.

"Deacon John Claybourne Junior," Rayna answered surprisingly firmly for as weak as she felt.

"I can't refuse you anythin' that you ask for and you know that. If that's what you really wanna name him knowin' all the bad history that comes with it, then I am gonna let ya. I only have one request. We call him Bubba or Lucky." Deacon gave in to her wishes.

"I can go along with that. Those are both perfect for him. He's extremely lucky that he made it through all that he did." Rayna agreed quickly.

The nurses took him off to be weighed and furthered cleaned up before they brought them back. He had time to feed before his sisters came in.

"Hey, my girls." Deacon greeted Maddie and Daphne both with a hug and a kiss on the head.

"Who wants to meet their baby brother?" Rayna smiled at them.

"I do," Daphne chirped happily.

"Me too," Maddie chimed in.

"Well, come on in." Rayna encouraged them.

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 20

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Deacon jumped to his feet quickly and went over to the crib where his newborn son laid next to his wife's hospital bed. The baby lay there fussing. He looked over at Rayna to see if she was going to pick him up, but he saw that she was sleeping. "Ok, it's just you and me, kid." He gently gathered him into his arms.

Little Deacon started to fuss more.

"Shh, you don't wanna wake your momma. It's ok, daddy's got you." Deacon held him close to his chest and rocked him gently.

The baby started to calm down instantly.

"There we go, see? You're ok." Deacon spoke softly to him.

"What does he need, babe?" Rayna asked groggily.

"I'm not sure. He was just a fussin'." Deacon replied. "I didn't mean for him to wake you up."

"I'm his momma it's perfectly alright for him to wake me up." Rayna held out her arms for the baby.

Deacon carefully placed him in her arms. "You say that now, 'cause you're happy he's here."

"I'm very happy he's here." Rayna smiled. She rubbed her knuckle across the baby's cheek. "Oh, you're a hungry boy. That's what's wrong with you." She undid the sleeve of her hospital gown and got him latched onto her breast. "You're a natural at that, DJ, you have to take after your daddy."

"DJ?" Deacon peered at her quizzically.

"Yeah, I think it suits him." Rayna winked at him.

"That stands for Deacon Junior or Deacon John?" Deacon asked her.

"Why can't it be both?" Rayna rubbed DJ's back.

"I don't see any reason why not. I thought we agreed that it was gonna be Bubba or Lucky." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"He can't go to school and be called by either of those names. Those are just for us. He needs somethin' that other people can call him." Rayna reasoned with him.

"I can't fault your logic then." Deacon agreed with her. "Look at him go to town."

"He was born knowin' what to do. There's no question 'bout that." Rayna smiled up at her husband.

"I still can't believe that he's that tiny little thing that we saw on that screen." Deacon was in awe of his new son.

"I can't believe how much he came out lookin' like his daddy. Maddie is the perfect combination of us, but this guy is every bit of the man I love." Rayna kissed DJ's head.

"If this one acts as much like me as he looks like me we are in trouble." Deacon chuckled.

"I don't think I'll mind it much." Rayna retorted. "Where are the girls?"

"Tandy took 'em to get dinner. They are gonna come back before they head home for the night." Deacon just watched her feed the baby.

"Where's my daddy?" Rayna squinted her eyes. She didn't really want to know the answer to that.

"He is waiting for me to call him and tell him that you're done resting to come see the boy." Deacon told her.

"You can call him as soon as he's done eatin'." Rayna stared down at their son.

"You look so peaceful feedin' him. I can't wait 'til I get a turn at doin' that." Deacon grinned.

"If it's ok with you I'm gonna do with him what I did with the girls. I pumped and started them on formula and bottles right away while I breast fed them. I want you to give him a bottle as soon as you can." Rayna looked up at him.

"That's fine with me." Deacon nodded his head.

"Babe, I can see so many emotions on your face right now. I can tell that a lot of them have to do with Maddie and what you weren't there for. I want you to enjoy new fatherhood as much as you can. I'm gonna do everythin' that I can to make sure this is perfect for you. I'll have them bring you a formula bottle the next time he wants to eat." Rayna replied.

"Baby, I love you and I understand what you're tryin' to do, but he can't make up for what I missed with Maddie. We will get through this and enjoy him, but please understand that there will be times that I'm gonna get a little sad. It don't mean that I haven't forgiven ya it just means that the hurt don't go away easily." Deacon told her.

"I know that, Deacon. I'm just glad that I'm able to give you a chance to have these experiences." Rayna corrected him. "DJ needs to be burped do you wanna try it, daddy?"

"I'll give it a try." Deacon took the baby from her and put him over his shoulder. He patted his back gently.

"You can be a little more forceful with him. You won't break him." Rayna encouraged him.

Deacon hit his back a little harder and he was rewarded with a burp. "Listen to that big sound comin' outta such a little guy."

"He has his daddy's table manners." Rayna winked at Deacon.

"I'm better than I used to be and he's just a little guy." Deacon defended.

Luke knocked on the doorjamb. "knock-knock, I hope ya'll don't mind a visitor."

"Hey, Wheels Up, come on in." Deacon waved him in.

"Rayna, these are for you." Luke handed her a bouquet of flowers. "You look gorgeous for a woman who just had a baby."

"Thank you, and I know that's a lie." Rayna smiled at him.

"Where is the crown prince of country?" Luke asked.

"He's content in his daddy's arms." Rayna answered him.

"Freakin' Deacon, there is no doubt that boy is yours. For all our sakes let's hope that he got his momma's smarts." Luke joked.

"The boy is a Claybourne. I think he'll do alright in life no matter who's brains he was blessed with." Deacon retorted.

"If he's anythin' like his daddy he'll be able to handle himself." Luke held up a gift bag. "I brought him a little somethin'."

"Luke, you didn't have to do that." Rayna said thankfully.

"Of course, I did." Luke pulled a little cowboy hat out of the bag.

"That is one damn fine piece of headwear." Deacon grinned.

"Like I said he is the crown prince of country music. Nothin' is too good for him." Luke patted Deacon on the back.

"You're gonna give him a complex callin' him that." Deacon shook his head.

"Like he ain't gonna have an ego with ya'll as parents." Luke teased him.

"You of all people didn't just say somethin' 'bout someone else's ego." Deacon arched his eyebrow.

"Before you two get into it. Luke, did you wanna hold him?" Rayna asked.

"I'd be honored." Luke held his arms out.

"Alright, watch his head." Deacon transferred him into his arms.

"I've got him. I've done this a time or two before." Luke reassured him. "Well, hey there, big man, what's your name?"

"Luke, Deacon and I would like for you to meet Deacon John Claybourne Jr. We are callin' him DJ for short." Rayna informed him.

"DJ, it is very nice to meet ya, son." Luke smiled down at the baby.

"DJ is happy to meet you too." Deacon answered for his son.

"Freakin' Deacon, I can't get over how much this boy looks like you." Luke observed.

"Truthfully, I can't believe that I had somethin' to do with makin' someone so perfect." Deacon replied.

"The only thing I know for sure is this. DJ is lucky to have his daddy and his Uncle Luke to look up to. I can't think of two other men I rather he be like." Rayna smiled at them both.

* * *

After they finished dinner Tandy brought Maddie and Daphne back to spend some time with their parents and their new baby brother.

"Who wants to hold their baby brother?" Deacon asked. He had the baby in his arms.

"I do," Daphne said excitedly.

"Well, have a seat." Deacon placed DJ in her arms once she'd sat down.

"He's so little." Daphne observed.

"You were that little once." Deacon told her.

"What do you think of DJ, Daph?" Rayna asked her.

"He's so cute, mom. He looks just like Deacon." Daphne replied.

"That's why we had to name him Deacon Junior." Rayna teased her.

Maddie stood stiffly against the wall her arms crossed over her chest.

"Maddie, you wanna hold your brother?" Deacon looked at her expectantly.

"Not right now." Maddie shook her head.

Rayna looked at Tandy with her eyebrow arched as if to ask, 'What's going on?'.

Tandy barely shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

"Deacon, baby," Rayna said to get her husband's attention.

"What can I do for you?" Deacon didn't tear his eyes away from DJ.

"Do you know what I would really love right now? I'd kill for a milkshake. Do you think you and Maddie can handle gettin' that for me?" Rayna gave him a look.

Deacon could tell from the look in her eyes that she wanted him to have a talk with Maddie. "Yeah, we can handle that."

"Thank you, babe." Rayna smiled at him.

"Come on, Maddie, let's go get your momma a milkshake." Deacon reluctantly tore himself away from watching DJ.

"Ok," Maddie replied sullenly.

"We will be right back." Deacon put his arm around Maddie's shoulders and led her out of the room.

"Daph, what's with your sister?" Rayna sat up on the side of her bed.

"She's afraid that Deacon is gonna love DJ more than her." Daphne answered.

"She's more like him than she will ever realize. That is somethin' that he would say." Rayna rolled her eyes.

DJ started to fuss in Daphne's arms. "Uh, mom, what do I do?"

"Here, I've got you." Tandy took the baby from Daphne and got him settled down. "Hi, Handsome, you have no idea how happy I am to meet you." She cooed at him.

"I think we're all happy that he's here. He is already his daddy's boy." Rayna told her.

* * *

"So, Kid, I guess this is all pretty hard on you." Deacon tried to make conversation with Maddie.

"What's hard on me?" Maddie looked confused.

"DJ bein' here." Deacon clarified.

"He's here there's not much I can do about it now. Before I knew you were my dad and you were just mom's boyfriend it wouldn't have been so bad." Maddie shrugged in reply.

"You've been put in one hell of a position and I'm sorry 'bout that. Understand that I'm in the same boat. I wanna be able to enjoy this experience, but I can't 'cause I know how upset you are even if you don't say it." Deacon leveled with her.

"It's just not fair, dad. The people who I thought were my parents got divorced, then I got my world turned upside down when I found out that the man I grew up calling dad isn't my father, I almost lost my mom in car accident, the man I thought was my dad married a woman that I can't stand, and then I found out that you and mom were having another baby. Being put in one hell of a position is a simple way to put it." Maddie quipped.

"Honey, I know that it's not fair. You and I got dealt a shitty hand, but it's what we have to play. We can be thankful for the time that we do have together. I've forgiven your momma, but to be honest with you I will never forgive Teddy. Forgiveness doesn't mean that the hurt isn't still there. It's ok to hurt it's a human emotion. You can't help feelin' that way anymore than I can." Deacon put his arm around her shoulders.

"Like I said it's not fair, dad. Not only does the baby get you from day one, he gets your name and your last name too. I'm your first child I should at least have your last name." Maddie huffed.

"You're right, it's not fair. It can't be overstated that we both got dealt a shitty hand. In a perfect world we wouldn't have to handle all of this at once. This situation is far from perfect. I don't think you can explain it and I can't either, but the minute you found out that I'm your daddy you trusted me to be able to take care of ya. In that moment I knew what to do even though I was scared to death. I will admit that way everythin' was handled wasn't fair at all, but it wouldn't be fair to your baby brother if you made him pay for someone else's sins." Deacon pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Why is it that you're the only one in this situation who can talk to me like I'm a person and not some little baby to be protected?" Maddie looked up at him.

"'Cause I think you need to hear it like it is and not have it sugarcoated for ya. You deserve that much." Deacon told her.

"Dad, do you love DJ more than me?" Maddie asked him.

"Of course not. I ain't been a daddy long, but I do know that I love ya'll equally, but I don't love ya the same." Deacon reassured her.

Maddie hugged him tightly. "I love you so much, dad."

"I love you too, Maddie." Deacon hugged her back. "Let's get your momma's milkshake and get back up to them."

"Ok, dad, whatever you say." Maddie rewarded him with a smile.

* * *

Lamar came in to see Rayna, Deacon, and DJ just before visiting hours were over.

"Hey, daddy, I didn't think we were gonna see you tonight." Rayna greeted him.

"Lamar," Deacon nodded in his direction.

"Deacon," Lamar didn't let his face betray how he felt about his daughter's husband.

"What are you doin' here?" Rayna asked.

"I came to see my grandson if that's ok with you." Lamar replied.

"That's more than ok." Rayna grinned.

Deacon was sitting in the rocking chair staring down at his son. "Who's the most handsome man in the world? Daddy's boy is that's who."

"You'll have to excuse my husband, he's very enamored with his son." Rayna laughed lightly.

"I don't blame him. I would have been the same way if I'd ever had a son." Lamar waved off her concern.

"Daddy, I'm aware that you wish either Tandy or I had been born a boy." Rayna rolled her eyes. "Deacon, why don't you hand daddy the baby?"

"Sure, of course." Deacon stood up and let Lamar take his seat. He placed DJ in his arms.

"Well, hello, little boy. I'm your pawpaw. I've waited a very long time for a male heir." Lamar smiled down at him.

"In other words I did somethin' right for once?" Deacon made a joke out of the fact Lamar detested him.

"I guess I'm gonna have to like you a little more since you've given me my only grandson." Lamar admitted. "What's your name, little man?"

"Daddy, I would like for you to meet, Deacon John Claybourne Jr." Rayna announced.

"With a name like that we are gonna have to hope that his Wyatt genes are dominant. Though, with the way he looks that may be wishful thinking." Lamar retorted.

"He looks a lot like his daddy. If he turns out like him I won't be disappointed at all." Rayna glared at him. He just couldn't help himself he had to be an asshole.

"I wouldn't mind if he turned out like me in the good ways. He has his momma here to make sure he doesn't pick up my bad habits." Deacon shrugged his shoulders.

"No matter who he turns out like. I happen to think he's perfect." Lamar kissed his head.

"We think so too." Deacon spoke up.

"Deacon, don't let this go to your head, but you did good for a change." Lamar looked over him critically.

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day." Deacon quipped.

"Deacon, you're better than a broken clock." Rayna assured him.

"That's love, babe." Deacon winked at her.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 21

"Welcome home, DJ." Deacon carried all the bags and the baby's car seat in while Rayna carried the baby in.

"Look at this, DJ, your sisters made a welcome home sign for you. You are one lucky little boy." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"Let me see my nephew." Tandy snatched the baby from her sister.

"So basically he's only ours durin' the night right?" Deacon observed.

"If Tandy is around that's a pretty safe bet." Rayna answered him.

"I'm only here to see the kids I could care less what you two do." Tandy retorted.

"At least if she's here to see them she's not gonna mess with us." Deacon shrugged his shoulders. "Baby, I'm gonna go put these bags up. If you wanna take a shower I'll help you. Then I want you parked on the couch where I can take care of you."

"That sounds wonderful and I love you for offerin', but darlin' I love you too much to let you help me shower right now. That's part of the reason Tandy is here right now." Rayna corrected him.

"Babe, I've seen you in the shower before." Deacon pointed out to her.

"Not after she's had a baby you haven't." Tandy arched her eyebrow at him.

"So, I'm not allowed to help her shower?" Deacon asked.

"No, you are not allowed to help her shower. If there are certain things you want to continue to enjoy then you will give her, her privacy." Tandy gave him a knowing look.

"In that case give me my baby. I can wait to put these bags up." Deacon gulped. He dropped the bags in the floor.

"That's what I thought." Tandy patted his cheek and handed DJ to him.

"I won't be long, babe, wait for me to show DJ his room." Rayna kissed his cheek.

"I think he's due for a diaper change. The girls and I will take care of that." Deacon volunteered.

"Thanks, honey, I love you." Rayna smiled at him.

"I love you too, babe." Deacon winked at her.

"Tandy, do you have to do everythin' you can to get under his skin?" Rayna asked once they were upstairs in the bedroom.

"I wouldn't do it if it wasn't so much fun." Tandy retorted.

"You are absolutely terrible when you want to be." Rayna shook her head and laughed.

"I just can't help myself. Now, go get in the shower. You don't want to leave your clueless husband alone with your newborn baby any longer than you have to." Tandy cracked.

Rayna gave her a withering look. "I will have you know that he's not clueless. He's a quick learner and let me tell you somethin' he's so much more hands on than Teddy ever was. He wants to be there for everythin'."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I'll back off." Tandy held her hands up in a sign of surrender.

"I know that you don't think much of him, but he really is a good daddy. The minute he found out about Maddie she went home with him and he knew what to do for her. He knew what to say to her the other day at the hospital. He's better than either of us give him credit for. I don't always know how to handle Maddie, he does." Rayna defended her husband.

"Let me help you into the shower." Tandy sighed.

Rayna started to strip down. "You have nothing at all to say to that?"

"I was wrong to tell you not to tell him about Maddie." Tandy said the one thing that she didn't really want to say.

"Thank you, I knew that was hard for you." Rayna offered her a smile.

"Go get in the damn shower." Tandy snorted.

"I don't know why I like you sometimes." Rayna laughed.

"I don't know why I like you either you're such a pain in my ass and you always have been. I guess it's because we only had each other after mom died." Tandy replied.

Rayna got into the shower. "Yeah, I guess so."

"You almost went and joined her a few months ago. Don't do anything like that to me again." Tandy told her.

"I don't plan on it." Rayna assured her.

"Alright, now, this can't be too hard. People do this all the time." Deacon had DJ laid out on a blanket on the couch.

"Didn't you change his diaper in the hospital, dad?" Maddie asked.

"Do you not know what you're doing, Deacon?" Daphne inquired.

"I changed his diaper in the hospital. And I know what I'm doin'. I just had your momma there to tell me what to do." Deacon unsnapped DJ's onesie and undid the tabs on his diaper. "Step one out of the way, Daphne, hand me a diaper." He held his hand out.

"Here you go," Daphne handed him a diaper.

Deacon removed the dirty diaper from his son with a pleased look on his face. That lasted only until his son peed on him. "Hey, hey, easy, Bubba."

"Gross," Maddie rolled her eyes.

Daphne doubled over and grabbed her sides from laughing so hard. "He just peed on you, Deacon."

Deacon finally got a new diaper on the baby after he finished peeing. "In the future I'll have to remember to cover you up so you can't do that. You use that thing like a loaded weapon."

"Dad, you should be so much better at this than you are." Maddie let a small smile play on her lips.

"I'm learnin' as I go here. Cut me some slack." Deacon redressed his son.

"I wish we would have recorded that." Daphne was in a full-blown giggling fit.

"What in the world is goin' on down here?" Rayna rejoined them after her shower.

"Nothin' at all." Deacon was stone faced, but the front of his t-shirt was soaking wet.

"Really?" Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"Yeah, really," Deacon answered a little too quickly.

"Why is your shirt all wet, babe?" Rayna asked him.

"DJ peed on Deacon." Daphne got out around a giggle.

Rayna covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter. "Babe, that's, well that's so damn funny." She let her laughter escape.

"It looks like you really had things under control down here, Deacon." Tandy laughed too.

"I'm glad ya'll find this so damn funny." Deacon tried his best to pout.

DJ started to squall in his father's arms.

"No, no, daddy's not mad at you. He's upset with your momma and your auntie." Deacon shushed him.

"That's a hungry cry, babe. I think it's time for you to feed your son for the first time." Rayna corrected him.

"Uh, what do I need to do?" Deacon asked.

"You sit down on the couch with him and I'll get you a bottle." Rayna opened the diaper bag and took a can of formula out. She mixed up a bottle and handed it to him.

Deacon sat down on the couch and put the nipple of the bottle into his son's mouth. "Look at you go to town on that bottle. This is exactly what you wanted."

Rayna sat next to him, put her arm around him, and laid her head on his shoulder. "You're doin' great, Deacon. He does all the work. When he's had half, you need to burp him."

"Alright, I will keep an eye on how much he's eaten." Deacon nodded his head seriously.

"Come on, girls, let's start on dinner." Tandy waved her nieces into the kitchen. She sneakily took a photo of Rayna, Deacon, and the baby.

* * *

"Who in the world could that be at this time of night?" Rayna asked when there was knock at the door. She and Deacon were sitting on the couch with the baby.

"Here, take the baby. I'll go see who it is." Deacon handed the baby to her. He opened the door with a loud sigh.

Teddy was leaning against the doorframe obviously drunk. "Deacon,"

"Teddy." Deacon eyeballed him skeptically. "What are you doin' here? And more importantly did you drive yourself?"

"I'm here to see my girls." Teddy swayed unsteadily on his feet.

"You better come on in." Deacon took hold of his arm and guided him to the living room.

"Teddy, what are you doing here?" Rayna asked.

"I want to see the girls." Teddy staggered.

"Teddy, you're a mess that's not such a good idea right now. I think you need to sit down and let me call you a cab." Rayna replied.

"I want to see the girls now, Rayna." Teddy argued.

"Teddy, now isn't a good time they are both sleepin'. Besides, you don't want them to see you this way. That wouldn't do you or them any good." Deacon tried to talk some sense into them.

Teddy responded by taking a swing at him.

Deacon ducked his fist and pushed him down into a chair. "Sit down and calm your ass down."

"It's not fair. I don't understand it, it's just not fair. I've done everything right the way that I was supposed to. I've always had it together and taken care of things that way that I should. I took care of a child who wasn't even mine, because you were too much of a drunk to. Rayna was still in love with you the whole time we were married. Maddie had basically abandoned me for you. Peggy and that baby were supposed to be my fresh start. Instead you got the baby and the wife. How is that fair?" Teddy broke down crying and buried his face in his hands.

"Babe, I'm so sorry about this." Rayna whispered lowly.

"It's ok," Deacon mouthed back. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

"Deacon, go put some coffee on. I'm gonna call my daddy to send his driver for Teddy. That way no one has to know that the mayor was wasted." Rayna laid the baby in his playpen.

"She didn't even have to fake a pregnancy I would have married her anyway." Teddy cried harder.

"Mom, is everything ok?" Maddie stood on the steps.

Deacon hurriedly stepped into her line of sight so she couldn't see Teddy. "Everythin' is fine, baby girl. Go on back upstairs. I will be up in a minute to talk to you."

"Is that my other dad? What's wrong with him?" Maddie questioned.

"He's just a little upset. He'd be a lot more upset if he knew that you saw him this way. Go upstairs and make sure your sister stays up in her room." Deacon ordered her.

"But, dad," Maddie stammered.

"Maddie, I promise you everythin' is ok. Go upstairs and entertain your sister please. I never asked you for anythin' and I'm askin' you for this." Deacon leveled with her.

"Fine, I'll go occupy Daphne." Maddie relented.

"Thank you, baby girl." Deacon sighed in relief as he watched Maddie head back upstairs. He went into the kitchen to make coffee.

"What the hell is your problem, Teddy?" Rayna got him to focus on her as best he could.

"My problem is that I have done everything right and I've been the good guy. Meanwhile your current husband hasn't been either of those things, but I lost my family to him. He gets a happy ending and I don't." Teddy retorted.

"Teddy, you cheated on me. You were far from the saint you're tryin' to paint yourself as right now. Deacon isn't the monster that you're tryin' to make him either." Rayna sighed. "I know the looks of a bender when I see one. This isn't gonna help anythin'."

"I'm starting to see why my father liked this so much. It's nice to be numb to the word." Teddy slurred.

"You and that man in the kitchen have a lot more in common than you realize. The difference is he's finally beaten his demons and you ain't even close to rock bottom yet." Rayna shook her head.

"Somehow I sincerely doubt that." Teddy snorted.

"You have no clue. Both your fathers for example. There are things that I never told you about him, 'cause that's his story to tell." Rayna informed him.

Deacon carried a cup of coffee into the room and handed it to Teddy. "Drink that, it won't sober you up any, but it'll help clear your head a little bit."

"Deacon, keep an eye on the baby. I'm gonna go in the other room and make that call to daddy. I trust you have the girls both under control?" Rayna gave Deacon a knowing look.

"I won't take my eyes off him. The girls are taken care of." Deacon assured her.

"Teddy, drink your coffee." Rayna pointed a threatening finger at her ex-husband. She slowly made her way into the other room to make a call.

Teddy took a belt out of his coffee mug. "I'm not even married to the woman anymore and she's still ordering me around."

"She's pretty good at takin' charge." Deacon stared down at his son with a smile on his face.

Teddy got to his feet unsteadily and walked over to the playpen. "He looks a lot like Maddie did when she was born."

"They both take after their daddy I guess." Deacon swallowed around a lump in his throat. It killed him inside that he hadn't gotten to fawn over his daughter like this when she was born.

"Rayna knew without having the test done that she was yours. I held out hope until I saw it in black and white that she wasn't mine. I wanted so badly to believe that she was mine and Rayna wasn't with me out of convenience. That's what I got and I made the best of it. I even thought that we were happy for a while. I know now that even that was a lie never on our best day together did she look as happy as she did when I walked in here tonight." Teddy took another drink of coffee.

"Rayna and I have always been inevitable. We shouldn't have ever tangled anyone else up in our mess. It wasn't fair to anyone. She only looked so happy, 'cause we have a brand new baby." Deacon offered lamely.

"You've always had that effect on her. I was never able to make her light up the way that you can." Teddy replied.

"I shoulda spent more time makin' her light up and less time makin' her clean up after me. We wouldn't be here right now if I had." Deacon shrugged.

DJ stirred and started to whine in his sleep.

Deacon scooped him up without hesitation. He held him close to his chest. "Shh, you're ok, daddy's got ya."

"What did she mean when she said that we have our fathers in common?" Teddy asked after he'd watched Deacon with his son for a moment.

"My old man was a world class mean drunk." Deacon answered.

"Mine was an alcoholic who drove the family name into the ground." Teddy admitted.

"Small world," Deacon didn't know what else to say. He swayed the baby back and forth gently.

"The last thing in the world I ever wanted was to end up like him." Teddy shook his head.

"I know that feelin' pretty well, myself." Deacon agreed with him.

"Why did she have to lie me? I woulda married her. She didn't have to trick me into marrying her." Teddy mumbled.

"I know that feelin' pretty well too. I've been askin' myself that question every day since I found out that Maddie is mine. Why'd she lie to me? Why didn't she just tell me that we had a baby on the way? I woulda married her and helped her take care of our baby. Why didn't she tell me when Maddie was one, or two, or five even? I woulda had time to be her daddy. Now I just get a few years and I'll be shippin' her out into the world. I never got to comfort her when she had a nightmare or have her hide behind my leg when she was bein' shy 'round a stranger. You asked Rayna to make you a promise that wasn't hers to make. You had no business askin' her not to tell me 'bout my daughter. I deserved to know the truth." Deacon spoke from his heart.

"I was scared that Maddie wouldn't love me anymore if she found out the truth and that fear wasn't far off the mark. The minute she found out that you're her father she wanted to go with you. She wants to be with you all the time. I raised her and I gave her my name. Why should she want you over me?" Teddy demanded.

"It's 'cause Maddie and I have lost time to make up for. I ain't sayin' that she don't love you anymore, I'm sayin' that maybe your relationship has to change." Deacon explained to him.

Rayna leaned up against the doorframe and cleared her throat. "Daddy's driver is on the way."

Deacon nodded his head.

"He ok?" Rayna gestured with her eyes to the baby.

"He's fine he was just fussin' a little bit." Deacon told her.

"Honey, can you take the baby upstairs and sit with the girls until I get him outta here?" Rayna asked him.

"Of course, if you need me just yell." Deacon climbed the stairs with the baby in his arms.

"Teddy, this can't happen again. You need to get yourself together. Until you do I can't have the girls seein' you this way." Rayna laid down the law.

"Those are my girls, Rayna, you can't do that to me." Teddy pleaded with her.

"I can and I will. I did it to Deacon and you're no better than he is. I will not expose those two girls to your drunkenness." Rayna stared him down.

"That's how it always is your way or the highway." Teddy retorted.

"Teddy, get yourself together. The girls are gonna stay with me until you do. Don't make me have to take you to court, because I will and we both know I'll win." Rayna told him in a warning tone.

"I don't know how to come back from this." Teddy admitted.

"You just have to find a way how." Rayna didn't know what else to tell him.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come on in, it's open." Rayna called out.

Lamar's driver Adam came in and grabbed Teddy by his upper arm. "Come on, Mayor Conrad, let's get you home."

"Thanks for comin', Adam." Rayna sighed.

"No problem, Ms. Jaymes, I'll make sure that everything is taken care of." Adam guided Teddy out the door.

Rayna locked the door behind them and went upstairs. She found Deacon and the girls in the master bedroom. They were all cuddling in bed watching tv with DJ in the middle of them. She climbed in next to Deacon. She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear. "Thank you for bein' so wonderful with them."

"Thank you for givin' me the chance to be." Deacon whispered back.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next time please review.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers.

* * *

Chapter 22

Rayna decided that there was no rush on getting the girls into their own beds. They needed time together to bond as a family of five. She had to smile at how enamored the girls were with their baby brother. She hadn't thought they would like him as much as they did.

Daphne looked over at her mother panic stricken when DJ started to wail like someone was killing him. "Mom, I swear we didn't do anything to him."

Rayna laughed softly. "I know you didn't, it's ok. Let his daddy pick him up."

"Come here, DJ," Deacon picked his son up and cradled him close to his chest. He tapped on his cheek lightly with his finger. DJ turned his head towards his father's finger. "I think he wants his momma."

"Yeah he does, that's a hungry cry." Rayna took the baby from him. She pulled her shirt up and got him latched on to her nipple before she covered him up with his nursing blanket.

"Does that hurt?" Maddie asked her mom. She averted her eyes to the tv.

"Sometimes it hurts, but most of the time it doesn't." Rayna answered her honestly.

"That is so cool, but so gross." Daphne snuggled against Deacon's side and yawned.

Deacon put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I think that you should probably think 'bout gettin' to bed before you fall asleep on me. You're barely keepin' your eyes open."

"I don't wanna. I wanna see DJ and play with him." Daphne yawned again.

"Hon, I promise you that it's ok for you to go into your room and go to sleep. Your baby brother isn't gonna go anywhere. He's ours to keep. You're not gonna miss anythin' right now anyway. All he really does is sleep, he's brand new. You are so tired, Daphne." Rayna told her with an amused smile on her face.

"Ok, so maybe I'm too comfortable to get up and walk into my room." Daphne shrugged her shoulders.

Deacon laughed and got out of bed. "Come on, I'll carry you." He turned around so she could climb up on his back.

Daphne jumped up on his back and wrapped herself around him to keep from falling. "Night mom, night Maddie, night DJ."

"Night, sweet girl," Rayna blew her a kiss.

"Night, Daph," Maddie rolled her eyes at her little sister's silliness.

"I will be right back as soon as I get this barnacle into bed." Deacon walked down the hall towards Daphne's room.

"Hey, mom?" Maddie asked once they had gone.

"Hey, Maddie," Rayna arched her eyebrow.

"What was dad doing here and why did he sound so upset?" Maddie asked.

Rayna sighed. She had been afraid she was going to ask that question. "He's just got a lot of stuff going on right now with the Peggy situation. He's really sad about it. It's gonna take time for him to get over it."

"He sounded like he was drunk." Maddie said flatly.

"I, uh, well," Rayna stumbled to find the right words.

"It's like I told you, Maddie. Sometimes adults can be selfish and stupid and only think 'bout themselves. That leads to 'em not makin' like greatest choices like drinkin' to deal with whatever is buggin' 'em. That don't help anythin'. All your problems are still there when you wake up. Only then they're worse, 'cause you gotta deal with 'em hung over. He just needs some time to sort things out. I'm sure he'll be fine." Deacon said as he came back into the room.

"He's right," Rayna nodded her head in agreement.

"And I thought being a teenager was complicated." Maddie sighed.

"Bein' an adult is even more complicated. When you're grown up you have all kinda responsibilities and people dependin' on you to know what to do. That's why you don't need to go tryin' to grow up so fast. Things will get complicated soon enough. You need to enjoy your freedom while you can. Bein' an adult ain't everythin' it's cracked up to be." Deacon added.

"We don't always have all the answers we just make things up as we go. Right now, though, I think it's time for you to go on to bed too." Rayna told her. She just needed her to stop asking questions she really didn't have the answer to.

"Come on, I'll tuck you in too. I know you're a big bad teenager, but humor me. I'm feelin' a little like bein' a daddy tonight." Deacon pulled his daughter up on her feet and guided her to her bedroom.

Rayna looked down at DJ to check on him. "I'll tell you what DJ for a guy who just found out he's a daddy a few months ago he sure did hit the ground runnin'. He's better at knowin' what to say than I am sometimes and I've been at this a lot longer, yes I have. You're done eatin' you're just playin' now." She smiled. She pulled him away from her chest.

Deacon came back and crawled into bed with them. "He finished?"

"He's finished. He was just playing with my nipple. That means it's your turn to do your job, daddy." Rayna handed him the baby and the blanket.

Deacon draped the blanket over his shoulder and then put his son over his shoulder and patted his back. "Burp good for daddy. Do me a favor and don't spit up on the bed." He laughed when his son let out a loud burp.

"Someone is related to his daddy." Rayna shook her head.

"He sure is." Deacon beamed with pride.

"Honey, we really need to rest while he's resting." Rayna told him.

"I just wanna look at him for a little while. I still can't believe that I had somethin' to do with makin' him." Deacon smiled down at his son.

"Really? It's hard to tell that anyone, but you had anythin' to do with makin' that boy. I carried him for nine months and couldn't sleep comfortably for four months, but he came out lookin' just like you. I love it, though. And I love how in love you are with him. I've seen you look at me with love in your eyes and it's nothin' compared to the way you look at him, Maddie, and Daphne. Those three are so lucky to have you as a daddy. Like I told Daphne, though, he's ours we get to see him every day. You're not gonna miss out on a minute with him." Rayna kissed the side of his head.

"Let me get him to sleep and then I will put him in his bassinet." Deacon replied.

"Lay him on your chest we both know that you really want to." Rayna told him.

Deacon laid down and he perched the baby on his chest. He patted his back to soothe him. He kissed his son's head. "Night, night, Bubba, daddy loves you."

Rayna rolled on her side, so she could rest her hand on the baby's back. "Night, Lucky, momma loves you too."

* * *

"Wow, you've gotten so good at that already." Rayna watched the next morning as Deacon skillfully changed DJ's diaper.

"It only takes one time of bein' peed on to learn your lesson. I think he did it on purpose. He's got me in him. It seems like somethin' I would do." Deacon swaddled his son and cradled him in his arms.

"I'm pretty sure you're right. He got me once too. It wasn't just you." Rayna smiled. She held her hand up to her mouth and yawned.

"Darlin', why don't you go back to sleep? He's fine. He's had a bottle and been changed. I know that bringin' him into this world took a lot outta you." Deacon suggested.

"No, I wanna get up and be with y'all. Trust me there will be time for a rather long nap later." Rayna got out of bed with a groan.

"DJ, are you gonna allow momma and daddy to nap later? You slept way too good for my likin' last night." Deacon spoke to his son.

"Deacon, we got a good baby. Don't question it. I promise you that we will have many sleepless nights with him, but right now he's sleeping well and we are just gonna go with it." Rayna advised him.

"What do you say we go downstairs and have some breakfast?" Deacon suggested.

"I say that I like the sound of that." Rayna took his hand and walked down to the kitchen with him.

"Mom, dad, you guys aren't supposed to be down here yet. We were trying to surprise you with breakfast." Maddie said when she saw her parents.

"We were trying to help out." Daphne chimed in.

"It's true they didn't even complain when I put 'em to work." Scarlett said from the stove.

"Scarlett, what are you doin' here?" Deacon smiled.

"This is a very nice surprise and we love that you're here, Scarlett." Rayna added.

"I was busy with some promotion stuff for the tour and I haven't gotten a chance to see my new baby cousin yet. I thought if I distracted y'all with food for a little while I could get some time with him." Scarlett went over to Deacon and kissed the baby's head.

"You can have all the time with him you want. He's been changed and fed. He's good for a couple hours." Deacon handed DJ to his niece.

"Isn't he awesome, Scarlett?" Daphne chirped happily.

"He is awesome. He looks just like his daddy." Scarlett smiled down at the infant in her arms.

"If it wasn't for the fact I carried him for nine months I wouldn't know that I had a thing to do with makin' him, he looks so much like his daddy." Rayna threw out there.

"What can I say? The Claybourne genes are dominant." Deacon shrugged. He moved to the stove to finish making breakfast.

"Well, he's just downright adorable." Scarlett fussed over the baby.

Rayna gently rubbed her son's head. "DJ, this is your Aunt Scarlett."

"Wow, seriously? You do not have to do that." Scarlett looked blown away.

"We wanted to. We talked it over and you're so much older than him it makes sense that he calls you Aunt Scarlett. It's a respect thing." Deacon told her.

"Besides that, you are his godmother." Rayna smiled warmly.

"I don't know what to say. That is a huge honor and I accept." Scarlett smiled back.

"Good, we weren't givin' you a damn choice." Deacon teased her.

"Uncle Deacon, mind your manners and get back to the stove. I need some time with my godson." Scarlett gave back as good as she got.

"I do believe she told you. You better get back to what you're supposed to be doin'." Rayna bumped her hip against his playfully.

"I'm on it." Deacon rolled his eyes.

* * *

Rayna sat on the couch folding a basket of DJ's clothes. She liked to prewash his outfits before he wore them in case he had any skin allergies. The baby was laying in the portable bassinet right next to her.

Deacon came down the stairs his hair still wet from the shower and he marveled at his little slice of domestic heaven. At his age he'd all, but given up on having this and truthfully, he didn't want it with anyone besides her. "I never knew that they made clothes that tiny."

"Despite the weight, he made me gain as you can see he came out little." Rayna folded a onesie and put it in the basket with the rest of the clothes she'd folded.

"You looked to be pretty deep in thought when I came down here. Is there anythin' I can help with? There's a reason we had the girls go hang out with their cousin for the day." Deacon sat down beside her.

"Buck called after you got in the shower and he had a couple things he wanted to talk 'bout. He's gonna drop by in a little while. He gave me five days without havin' to worry over anythin'. I guess I should be grateful for that." Rayna sighed.

"I've been doin' a little thinkin' lately. You and I are partners. If you wanted to take maybe a month or six weeks off to just enjoy him you could. I'm sure that Buck and I could manage the label." Deacon put his arm around her shoulders.

Rayna looked up at him and gave him a half smile. "No, I want you to have that time off to just enjoy him too. For all intents and purposes he is your first baby and I don't want you to miss a thing. We just have the habit of gettin' me pregnant at the worst possible times in my career."

"We do have a pretty bad track record when it comes to that." Deacon laughed a little.

"Everythin' is gonna work out just fine, babe." Rayna took his hand and squeezed it.

Bucky showed up a few minutes later. "I'll trade you some pretty boring marketing research for some baby time." He handed Rayna a stack of papers and used some hand sanitizer before he picked DJ up.

"DJ, say hi to Uncle Bucky." Deacon told his son.

"Hi, DJ, I can only hope that you won't make the messes for me to clean up that your mommy and daddy always have." Bucky smiled down at the baby.

"Buck, this can't be right." Rayna looked up from the papers she was reading. She let go when she felt Deacon tug on them so he could look them over to.

"It's right, your sister's head almost exploded when she saw that, but it's right." Bucky confirmed.

"It says here that there ain't a marketable single one on this album." Deacon read what they were both so concerned about.

"I feel strongly about the work Liam and did on this album. I love it as is. I don't want to chop it up and make it so commercial that I don't even recognize it." Rayna sighed loudly.

"Ray, of all the problems to have this is a good one. You're married to your favorite song writin' partner. We can have a marketable single on the album that is true to the spirit of the whole thing. I know you better than Liam does. I can stay on message and still write a hit single." Deacon offered.

"He has a point, Ray. Back in the day you two would crank out hit songs between coffee and dessert." Bucky agreed with Deacon.

"You just get your baby time in and let me think. I know that we need this album to be a huge success. Pretty much everything is riding on it." Rayna was thinking out loud.

"We have Scarlett and we have me. We need to get her back into the studio while she is on a break from tourin' with Luke. We can get a single outta her. And I have a bunch of stuff that I could turn into a single." Deacon tried to help her thought process along.

"Tandy had a thought about what to do with you, Deacon. It turns out that vinyl is a huge market now. You know these young people today love everything that is old. She thought that you could put a few songs down on vinyl and we could roll that out to open a revenue stream and keep things afloat." Bucky suggested.

"I'll do y'all one better than that. I will do a live album at the Bluebird. Once I pick the songs I want and can get a slot scheduled. It'll be true to who I am and it should do well. It won't be no ratings juggernaut by any means, but I am Rayna Jaymes' baby daddy that oughta help my case just a little." Deacon teased.

"Babe, this is why I knew this label wouldn't work without you. You always know just what to do." Rayna leaned over and kissed him.

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter I hope you guys enjoyed it. i know that this is a short chapter, but I wanted to get something out to you because it has been so long since I updated. Until next time please review.


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